A Chester city centre restaurant, bar and hotel's planned major extension, with 14 additional hotel bedrooms, has been rejected by the council.

Previously we reported the Grade II-listed Coach House Inn on the corner of Northgate Street and Princess Street, which now adjoins the Northgate Development's Coachworks Arcade and Exchange Square, had plans lodged with Cheshire West and Chester Council for changes to the listed building.

In a planning document submitted to the council as part of the proposal, made on behalf of Gianni Poletti by Donald Insall Associates Ltd, said the extent of the works is a three-storey extension to the existing west elevation gap infill space, "providing much-needed additional ground floor area and improved facilities with accommodation over, with a lift for access for all and escape stair.

"The additional bedroom accommodation is required to provide improved resilience for this business in a key location in the centre of Chester. The proposed works also includes internal plan alterations on all existing floors."

Plans for the 17th century building, formerly listed as The Coach and Horses, included increasing the number of hotel bedrooms from eight to 22, while creating an open-plan ground floor to increase restaurant and bar space.

The proposed design would have had the extension align with the existing roof height, with a continuation of the existing façade design.

Planners added the additional "much-needed" bedroom accommodation would "ensure the long-term viability of this business."

Three objections were made to the application, with concerns over the demolition to the existing outbuilding, the design and scale of the proposed development, and "a possible future surplus of hotel accommodation in Chester".

A council planning officer noted the development would create new job opportunities across a range of sectors, and the site " is considered to be in a suitable location to make a positive contribution to the visitor economy of the city and the wider borough". The officer added the comment about a potential 'future surplus of hotel accommodation in Chester' was "speculative" and not a material planning consideration.

But the officer noted concerns had been raised from the conservation and design team that "the proposal would result in substantial harm to the significance of the Grade II listed public house" and the development "would erase the historic layout and relationship between the public house and the coach house and would fundamentally alter the visual appearance of the elevation along [Princess] Street."

Recommending refusal, the planning officer said: "The massing and prominence of the proposal would be out of character and harmful to the host building, conflicting with the established layout and spatial character of the building plot and entirely destroying any legibility of the building as a historic coaching inn and the existing relationship between the public house and the coach house.

"It would infill an open area to the rear of the site that contributes to the special character and appearance of the conservation area, therefore reducing the significance of the designated heritage asset and its contribution to the historic townscape. It would not preserve the setting of the Grade II Listed heritage asset, resulting in less than substantial harm to the setting of Chester City Centre Conservation Area and other heritage assets, including the Grade II* Listed Town Hall."

CWaC officially refused the plans earlier this month, adding the proposed development "is unacceptable in principle".