Flats planned for pub where Willie Thorne learned snooker rejected

Willie Thorne once said he became "the best player at the club" within six months

A plan to turn the pub where Leicestershire snooker legend Willie Thorne learned to play the game into flats has been rejected.

An application was submitted to convert The Sports Bar on Stadon Road, Anstey, into four homes.

Planning officers at Charnwood Borough Council refused the scheme because the homes would "not have enough sunlight".

The pub was previously the village's Conservative club, where Mr Thorne's father worked as a steward.

A report said despite the need for smaller homes in the borough, particularly for those on low incomes, the plan "would fail to provide adequate light", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Although each room would have "at least one window, the type, size and location of these windows would severely limit access to daylight and fresh air", planners said.

Council planners rejected a scheme in turning the former pub into four homes

Mr Thorne, who was born in Anstey in 1954, became a Leicester sporting hero after an illustrious career and was nicked named "Mr Maximum" for his high-scoring breaks.

He told the Leicester Mercury in 2012: "My father got made redundant and took a job as a steward at Anstey Conservative Club. That's where I learned to play. Within six months, I was the best player in the club.

"I was a natural, without a doubt, but it wasn't until I went to an exhibition in Spinney Hill and saw John Spencer make a 147 break that I remember thinking: 'Wow, I want to do that for a living'."

He became a BBC commentator after retiring from professional snooker, and later went on to appear on Strictly Come Dancing. He died in 2020 after being diagnosed with leukaemia.