Plans to transform an empty pub in Cheadle town centre into a residential care home have been met with opposition from town councillors and local residents.

According to a report by Stoke & Staffordshire, Cheadle town councillors say that turning the Grade II-listed Wheatsheaf Hotel into a care unit for up to 18 people with learning difficulties would have a negative impact on local trade.

A major pub chain had hoped to purchase the Wheatsheaf Hotel, which has been unoccupied for five years. A deal was almost reached last October, but the building's owners decided instead to sell to a specialist care home developer.

Local residents are thought to be against with the idea of losing the Wheatsheaf Hotel, which has been part of the local landscape as a pub for 270 years.

The proposed redevelopment could, however, provide a major boost for the local economy as it would create around 30 nursing and nurse manager jobs. It could also help secure a £500,000 investment in the town.

Town councillors held a meeting on Monday night, and it is thought that the proposals were met with strong protests from local residents and councillors alike.

Ray Wood, chairman of the local planning committee, said that the idea of putting a care home on a high street was highly unusual, and one that was always likely to provoke a negative reaction.

"I cannot think of another town in the country where there is a care home in the High Street," Stoke & Staffordshire quoted him as saying.