The owner of a seafront home which is said to have inspired a prominent Victorian novelist is seeking permission to continue using it in part as a holiday let.

An application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park said Gwynne House, in Tenby, had been operating as a holiday let prior to its current owner acquiring it in 2021.

The house is Grade-II listed and forms one of a pair of early 19th-Century houses overlooking the town's harbour, in a conservation area.

A plaque on the front states that George Eliot, the pen name of Mary Ann Evans who wrote Middlemarch, had been inspired to write her debut novel after staying there in 1857.

An application for a certificate of lawfulness allows an applicant to stay at or keep a development which has not had planning permission if they can provide proof of occupancy or use over a prolonged period.

A supporting statement accompanying the application said, back in 2014, the park authority had approved an application for Gwynne House to be mixed-use, with residential accommodation at basement level and guesthouse accommodation on the ground and upper two floors.

The property was purchased by Pavel Stepanek in July 2021 and a witness statement said Gwynne House was already operating as a holiday let at the point of purchase, despite only having permission to be a guesthouse, "demonstrating that the holiday letting use had commenced prior to his acquisition of the property".

"Following acquisition, the property underwent a period of required refurbishment between late 2021 and early 2022. Upon completion of those works, Gwynne House resumed operation as a self-contained short-term holiday let and has continued in that use thereafter. The residential use and flat at the basement continued under the 2014 consent."

The statement continued: "At the time, Mr Stepanek was not aware of the subsequent introduction of Use Class C6 in Wales in late 2022 or of the potential planning implications arising from the classification of short-term holiday accommodation.

"His understanding was informed by the property's established history as visitor accommodation, previously authorised as a bed and breakfast/guesthouse. For the purposes of this application, however, the relevant consideration is the factual nature, commencement and continuity of the established use now of a holiday let that has immunity under the four-year rule."

A decision will be considered by park officials at a later date.

Evans, born in 1819, began writing stories about the people of her native Warwickshire, before her first novel, Adam Bede, was published in 1859.

She used a male pen name to ensure her works were taken seriously at a time when female authors were usually associated with romantic novels.

Living in London, she is said to have holidayed in Tenby in 1857, where she was inspired to write her first book.

Her best-known novel, Middlemarch, a weaving commentary on life in early 19th Century Britain, was published in 1872, eight years before her death.