Plans for five homes in a small village have been refused planning permission because the development would have put extra pressure on services.

The project was for land west of Norwich Road, Stonham Parva, also known as Little Stonham, near Stowmarket.

The planning statement for the scheme, prepared by Wilkinson Planning, said the plans would produce "positive benefits through the creation of healthy and functionally sound dwellings" as well as adding a "positive interaction within the immediate and surrounding areas".

However, Mid Suffolk District Council's planning officers said the plans would've added "additional pressure on services, facilities and infrastructure in an unsuitable and unsustainable location that has not been planned for".

The report added that there was "insufficient" ecology information submitted and there were also concerns about the impact of the project on the nearby grade II listed building, The Magpie Inn.

The report said: "The development of the site would have a negative cumulative effect, further eroding the historic rural character of the setting of the Magpie Inn."