The newest owner of Okehampton’s Endacotts Bakery has restyled part of the bakery premises as a three bedroom maisonette and given away some of the fixtures and fitting in the process.

Playwright Mark Brookes received planning permission in May this year to transform the upper two storeys into a residential property and has worked since then to transform the failing business into ’modern’ accommodation.

Mr Brookes said: ’I can’t believe the state [the building] was left in. But when it goes to sale it will be a blank canvas now.’

The ground floor will be repurposed for residential, commercial and retail spaces.

The building has been renovated in as environmentally-friendly a way as possible, and many of the features of the property have been reused.

’Seventy to eighty percent has been recycled. We took out the cupboards which were from the 70s. They were in pristine condition so we reused them,’ said Mr Brookes.

Any materials that could not be reused were donated to Okehampton’s Community Garden and Men in Sheds and many of Mr Brookes’ old belongings were also donated to other charities.

’I can’t take it all with me,’ said Mr Brookes, who lives in a motor home as he travels the country searching for restoration projects.

The property will be sold as a ’mixed use’ unit in the new year.