A BUSINESSMAN branded "a bad egg" by opponents today left his council detractors with egg on their faces after a Government Inspector overturned their decision not to allow him to change the use of a nursing home to a private residence.

Developer Paul Dew was accused of hatching a "devilish plot" to force old people out of The Holme nursing home, Cliviger, by creating uncertainty over its future so he could snap it up at a knock-down price.

But as an inspector today upheld an appeal against the council decision, jubilant Mr Dew, who neither owns the Grade ll listed building nor had the permission of the owner to make an application, said his aim was never to acquire the property, which he once ran as a country club.

He revealed the real aim behind the application, submitted by AJR Trading, a Radcliffe company with which he is associated, was to build private houses on land in the Holme's grounds, which he owns.

He said: "The council got it all wrong. They said terrible things about me which were totally unjustified.

"All they had to do was ask, but they just assumed I was going to cause upset -- typical of the way they have treated me for years."

The Inspector threw out the council's refusal stating it was not based on planning considerations.