A children's residential care home has been proposed for a village just outside Grantham.

London-based Protea Care Ltd has applied to South Kesteven District Council to change the use of Heath Farm, Newgate Lane, Londonthorpe into a children's residential home.

If approved, the home for five youngsters aged 8-18, would be similar to two care homes the company runs in Corby.

It would employ 11 full-time staff, with four on duty during the day and two at night. The residents would be "challenging, troubled, harmed and often damaged children" who would be recommended by Lincolnshire County Council and similar authorities as due to their background, the children need to be housed away from their birth town or families. The application said project would "serve a vital need" and would not change the appearance of an existing building. Neither would it cause a nuisance to neighbours. It comes as the planning committee of South Kesteven District Council refused planning approval for a residential home for up to four children at Walnut House, Somerby Road, Ropsley. That application came from Andrew Brookes of The Place Young People's Company of Belvoir Farmhouse, Woolsthorpe Road, Redmile. Planning committee members said the proposed site was in a remote, rural location and was unsustainable as staff and others would need cars to get there. The proposal was not a permitted development for open countryside and would also be close to existing properties and would cause "high levels of noise and disturbance." The Place Young People's Company, which operates other residential homes in the region, also withdrew a plan for a residential home for up to four children at Sapperton, six miles east of Grantham. It cares for children with 'complex needs' who have "emotional, social, educational and behavioural difficulties as a result of past trauma and attachment difficulties." This application also involved a change of use for the building. If approved, it would have employed seven care staff, plus a manager and deputy manager.