A controversial plan to convert a derelict Perthshire church into a luxury home has been resurrected.
For more than 20 years campaigners have fought to preserve the vacant Kinfauns Church.
They believe long-standing plans to turn the C-listed building into a family house would lead to the “desecration” of the cemetery, just yards away.
Proposals to change the use of the building have been rejected four times on the grounds that it would be incompatible with the graveyard.
The most recent bid was in 2011 attracting scores of objections from local residents and was approved following an appeal to the Scottish Government.
It was passed on condition that a beech hedge would be planted to protect neighbours’ privacy.
But planning consent for the project has expired and developers have gone back to Perth and Kinross Council with a fresh application, calling for extra time to progress their scheme.
The move has already received a formal objection from neighbour Joan McGlinn, who spoke out against the plan at an earlier council meeting.
In her letter to the local authority, she stated: “For three years, the church has been neglected, running completely against the spirit of giving a new use to a distinctive structure.
“It is clearly too difficult a task, even for property developers, and permission should not be granted.”
Kinfauns Church was sold by the Church of Scotland in 1991 but has lain empty since then.
An offer was made by locals to buy the property after the first planning application failed but it was rejected.
They want to level it to make room for more graves, saying there is little architectural merit in the building.