The owner of a popular village butcher shop that residents fought to save from development last year fears his business will ‘cease to exist’ after another planning application was submitted.

Joe Gleeson, who owns J.P Gleeson butchers in Hazlemere Road, Penn, says the butchers could not survive if the planning application, from the building's freeholders is given the go ahead.

In September last year hundreds of villagers rallied together to save the shop, which has been trading for 80 years, after the freeholders asked Chiltern District Council for permission to convert the building into a three bedroom home.

The application received over 500 letters of objection and a petition to save the much-loved community shop gained thousands of signatures.

This time, the plan is for a two storey side, single storey front and a rear extension and internal changes to create a five bedroom house, with plans for the butchers to remain.

However Mr Gleeson, 55, who has run the butchers for 30 years, believes that if planning permission is given for the extension, the shop will be forced to close because of rocketing fees and building work.

He said: “If the application is given the green light it will signify the end of the butchers as we know it. The refurbishment and the renovation work on the building will be so invasive; there is no way any retail aspect could continue.

“The business will cease to exist. The rental on a five bedroom property would be so high, any small business would struggle.

“We will not be here if Chiltern District Council gives this application the green light.

“The community and I feel like this is another attempt to circumnavigate planning regulations.”

The village butcher believes his shop is a vital asset to the community despite the applicant outlining other shops selling fresh meat nearby in their application last year.

Mr Gleeson said: “In the planning application submitted last year, the developers said the current use of the shop is alien to the area. After 80 years of the shop trading in the community, I find that a very amusing comment. It is quite laughable.

“I personally have traded here for 30 years; we are part of the community. We do door-to-door deliveries for elderly and housebound people and we never say no to a local charity that needs help. If someone gave us a call and asked us to deliver to them because they are ill, we would do it. We are a cog in the community.

“This will strike a chord with many small communities that have lost local shops. We are not a hard-nosed high street butcher, we are a local business.”

Mr Gleeson said he is not surprised that another application has been submitted.

He said: “We anticipated that there would be another battle; it was just a question of when and how.

“But we had 550 objections to the application last time and all the people who supported us then are behind us now.”

A planning statement insists the butchers would not be affected by the building work.

It said: “The commercial aspect has been retained [and] increased in floor space.

“Both the front door and signage of the commercial unit will now be retained on the front principle elevation and as stated above the floor space of the shop has been increased.

“The existing storage shed is to be demolished and re-built for use by the commercial unit.”

The freeholders have not yet responded to requests for a comment.

View the planning application CH/2015/1712/FA at https://isa.chiltern.gov.uk/online-applications/.