The squalor of the Industrial Revolution has finally arrived in a picturesque Surrey village according to a local politician who condemned the decision to allow two tiny homes to be built on the site of ex-public toilets.

After an earlier planning application was rejected, and an appeal to a planning inspector failed, Epsom councillors last night approved a revamped application to turn the toilets, opposite Bourne Hall, in Spring Street, Ewell, into two one-bedroom homes.

The two mini homes will be built on a site which measure just 0.019 acres and will be "set behind a continuation of the adjacent boundary walls, creating a small front yard for prospective occupants that would provide bin and cycle storage as well as creating some amenity space".

At the planning meeting Brian Angus, chairman of the Ewell Village Residents’ Association, who described himself as a "simple villager", made a passionate plea for the application to be thrown out.

He said: "These houses have no amenity space worth mentioning, no outlook from the living space apart from the view of a cycle shed and a refuse store, no privacy from the prying eyes of passengers on the upper deck of buses waiting at the traffic lights, no through ventilation, so they will become stifling hot on summer nights, no escape from the noise and pollution of traffic when windows are opened, no daylight in the kitchen, dining area or bedroom.

"During the Industrial Revolution, heartless landlords in the northern cities built what were known as back-to-back houses as a means of squeezing the maximum amount of accommodation onto the smallest site. It would seem that the Industrial Revolution has reached Ewell at last."

But Kevin Whyte, agent for the owner, insisted there would be sufficient space for recycling and rubbish bins to be stored on the site and that the plot size has not been considered to be a "considerable issue".

One letter of objection was received against the application with regards to traffic congestion to do with the building and the removal of the benches in front of the toilet block.

Councillor Neil Dallen raised concerns about deliveries being made to the site during construction of the homes.

The road opposite the site is currently flooded and Councillor John Beckett raised the issue of flooding at the meeting.

He said: "We have a severe problem with flooding on both sides and I’m working with Surrey Highways to try to put a solution in. "I would hate to see that solution held up or damaged in some way by the development."

Councillors voted 6-4, with one abstention, in favour of the application.

The new planning application sought to address the reasons for the previous refusal by reducing the overall height of the building from the previously proposed 7m to 5.68m, and reducing the height of the front boundary wall from 2.5m to 1.5m, as well as the introduction of two metal entrance gates.

The toilets were auctioned off by the cash-strapped council in May 2012 for £68,000 - a move which was described as "degrading" by the elderly population of the village.

They were then sold on to a mystery buyer for more than £80,000 with planning permission.

A first attempt to turn the toilets into two one-bedroom maisonettes failed, after Epsom’s councillors refused the application because it did not preserve the character and appearance of the village.

The owner of the toilets, stated on documents as a Mr M Uddin, appealed the decision to the Planning Inspectorate in October 2013.

The inspector rejected the appeal, saying: "I agree with the council that the proposed front boundary wall would be an oppressive and unduly dominant feature in the street scene.

"This leads me to conclude on the main issue that the proposed development would fail to preserve the character and appearance of the Ewell Village conservation area."

The planning inspector had no concerns with the proposed internal layout of the homes.