PROPERTY company bosses were this week raising their glasses after a controversial plan to build a convenience store on the carpark of a popular Wollescote pub was given the go-ahead.

NewRiver Retail has been given planning permission to build a Co-op store next to the Hare and Hounds in Wynall Lane - despite opposition from residents concerned about extra traffic that would be generated close to a dangerous road junction.

The scheme, which was approved by Dudley’s development control committee on Monday, will see outbuildings on the site demolished and a new convenience store with cash machine, car parking and cycle storage facilities built.

The popular pub will also be given a makeover and extension which will see the current games/function room incorporated into the pub so it can be accessed without having to go outside. The revamp will also improve the toilet facilities and décor both inside and out.

A spokesman for NewRiver Retail, which acquired the pub from Marston's plc in December 2013 as part of a portfolio of public houses, said: “We’re pleased with the decision of the council. This is a proposal that involves a substantial investment in the pub and the delivery of a new convenience store alongside the renovation of the pub. We will now work on delivering the proposal.”

Cradley and Wollescote councillor Richard Body, who spoke on behalf of more than 100 residents who signed a petition objecting to the scheme, said he was "disappointed" with the decision and that concerns about traffic issues had been dismissed.

He said: "I argued it would bring extra traffic to a junction which has a blind bend and it seems they don't want to know."

And he added: "The Co-op used to have a shop on Wynall Lane years ago and they couldn't make it work. It was only reopened by an independent trader. If they couldn't make it work then why do they want to come back?"

The development scheme is expected to create around 20 new jobs but no timescales have yet been given for work to start.