A Buddhist group which was refused permission to turn a pub into a temple have dropped their appeal against the decision.

The landmark Lord Brooke pub in Walthamstow was closed last year after police accused it of being a ‘drug haven’ and the licence was revoked.

After the owners lost an appeal to overturn the decision of the licensing committee, they sold it for £740,000 in August 2014 to the Confucius and Tao Association.

A temple was to be built on the pub site if plans were accepted, but in January the planning committee said the use of the site as a pub was a "valued part of the social infrastructure of the area".

The C&T Association, which had six months to appeal the decision of the planning committee, did so on July 16.

But, the appeal has now been withdrawn.

Waltham Forest council said it would use an Article 4 Direction on pubs in the borough to prevent them from being closed if they are still viable for business, after a community campaign save The Heathcote Arms in Leytonstone.

Article 4 removes any automatic right of the owner to change the building into a business such as a supermarket and classifies it as an 'Asset of Community Value'.