AN application to covert a former hotel in Dawlish into flats has been rejected.

25/00799/FUL sought permission to convert Oceans B&B into seven flats.

But Teignbridge District Council (TDC) refused to grant planning permission.

The council said 25/00799/FUL failed to demonstrate that all of the occupants of the proposed flats would be safe in the event of a flood, thus contrary to Policy EN4 (Flood Risk) of the Teignbridge Local Plan 2013-2033.

The loss of the three decorative stained glass windows at ground floor level of the building would result in a ‘harmful impact upon the character and appearance of the existing building and the Dawlish Conservation Area’, the council said in its decision notice.

Also, the proposed installation of a cycle store and seven bin stores would result in a ‘cluttered, unsympathetic form of development’, the council said.

The existing building comprises of 12 guest bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms together with a bar, dining area and kitchen on the ground floor.

It has a basement, ground floor, first floor, second floor and third floor.

According the design and access statement for 25/00799/FUL, the flats were to be laid out over the ground first second and third floors of the building, with a communal corridor leading to a communal staircase to access the first second and third floors.

Dawlish Town Council did not object to the application.