A former guest house in the heart of the Dales can be turned back into a private dwelling.

Seven-bedroomed Park Bottom at Litton became a guest house in 1982 and currently offers bed and breakfast accommodation.

But owners Bryan and Lyn Morgan want to retire and have struggled to sell the property as a bed and breakfast business.

In a statement supporting their planning application to change the property back to a private house, they said: “Our occupancy rate has fallen over recent years to around 30 per cent. However, this year it is half that and the business is no longer viable.”

They added that they had put the house on the market in May 2011 and, while it generated steady interest, no-one wanted to do bed and breakfast. “We have now received an offer from a family wanting to use the property as a private dwelling,” they said.

Their change of use application was approved by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority under its scheme of delegation.