A family struggling to maintain a historic Tewkesbury farmhouse say they might be forced to demolish it.

The Mitchell family, which has owned Northway Court in Hardwick Bank Road, Northway, since 1927, say knocking down the 18th century building would be a last resort.

But it is something they are having to think about as they cannot afford to pay for the extensive refurbishment needed to make it habitable again and the authorities keep rejecting plans which would help them to sell it.

Roger Mitchell, of Aston Field Farm, Ashchurch, spoke out after the family’s latest disappointment – the Planning Inspectorate’s decision to reject their appeal against Tewkesbury Borough Council’s refusal of plans to make the property more marketable.

The application was for two houses to be built within the grounds of the grade II-listed house – a scheme intended to help pay for its renovation.

But like the council, the inspectorate ruled that the development would harm the setting of the listed building, cause traffic problems in the area and detrimentally affect neighbouring properties.

That led Mr Mitchell to demand to know what the authorities would allow.

He said: “This has been going on for 14 years. Every proposal we’ve put forward has been almost automatically refused. It’s diabolical. What will Tewkesbury Borough Council allow?”

If there is no breakthrough with the council, the family might apply to have the property de-listed as that would allow them to demolish it.

Mr Mitchell said it would be a shame to knock down the old building but it might have to come to that.

He said: “Nobody’s going to buy it in the state it’s in. It would cost several hundred thousand pounds to put the interior right.

“Without some development in the paddock, nobody will come in. They would need that to pay for the restoration of the house.”

He said insuring the property was costing the family about £1,500 a year and he had to visit the site once a fortnight to make sure it had not been vandalised.

The council’s development manager, Paul Skelton, said: “Proposals involving listed buildings are often very sensitive and we have a statutory duty to protect the special historic and architectural interest of such buildings.

“The council carefully considered the most recent proposals for the site and concluded that they would have an unacceptable impact. That decision was also upheld by an independent planning inspector.

“We are always happy to discuss proposals with applicants in advance of applications being made and we have a pre-application planning advice service, details of which can be found on our website.”