A HISTORIC family home in Little Leigh is set to be restored after a lorry crash last December left it severely damaged.

Plans to demolish and rebuild part of Hollybush Cottage, a Grade II listed building on the A49 Warrington Road, were approved by Vale Royal Borough Council's planning committee at a meeting last Tuesday.

The collision left it unstable and unsafe.

Peter and Kerry O'Connor, who lived in the 17th century cottage with Kerry's 11-year-old son Tom for almost five years, were at work when the lorry smashed through the walls on December 8.

Police told them it was unsafe to go back in the cottage but just two days later burglars broke in and stole musical instruments, amplifiers, a CD collection, computer games and Christmas presents.

A report to the planning committee stated: "The evidence is clear that there has been significant damage to the structure of the building and that in the interests of preserving the building for the long-term, the most damaged parts of the building should be carefully demolished and reconstructed using as much of the original material as can be reasonably salvaged from the process."

To make sure that the work on the cottage conforms with its listed building status, one of the conditions of the approval is that builders provide a detailed schedule of works and how they will be undertaken, which is to be approved by planners before any demolition begins.

The materials to be used in rebuilding the cottage will also have to go before planners for approval.

Lay preacher Bob Lewis, 71, died following the crash in December. He was a member of Owley Wood Flying Club and loved pigeons.

He was in his car with wife Kay going to buy a Christmas present for one of their grandchildren at the time of the accident.