THE owners of long-established Sandside restaurant The Kingfisher are seeking consent to convert it into an apartment.

In planning documents, Mike and Anne Thomson say they have tried to sell the business, overlooking the Kent Estuary, as a going concern for more than 12 months, without success or a single viewing.

The Storth couple have lodged plans with South Lakeland District Council to convert The Kingfisher into a three-bedroom ground-floor apartment for themselves. Documents state they have "made every endeavour" to dispose of the eatery and an upstairs holiday flat, on Park Road, as a going concern.