An application to turn a former pub where police found "drugs paraphernalia everywhere" into a Buddhist temple has been refused.

Lord Brooke in Shernhall Street, Walthamstow, was closed last year after its licence was revoked by the after police described it as a "drug haven".

The owners lost and appeal and sold it for £740,000 in August to the Confucius and Tao Association.

The association planned to turn the building into a temple, but on Tuesday the planning committee said the use of the site as a pub was a "valued part of the social infrastructure of the area".

The proposal was also found to fall short of disabled and parking requirements.