A BID to site caravans on a Stourport hill to put them out of the reach of floodwaters has been rejected by planning chiefs.

Stourport Motor Yacht and Bungalow Association wanted to move 24 caravans based at Lickhill Meadows from the rear of the site on to a small hill within the area.

Planning officer Quita Morgan said in a report to Wyre Forest District Council's planning (development control) committee: "The caravan site is at present at the rear of the site on lower lying ground which regularly floods. A few caravan owners have protected their property by raising them on brick piers over one metre in height."

The site is in the Green Belt and in an area of great landscape value within the Severn Valley and there is a public right of way running alongside it.

The application prompted four letters from people objecting strongly, citing a lack of consultation by the club and branding the proposal an "eyesore".

The report concluded: "To move the caravans to this highly prominent position would in my view be totally unacceptable in terms of the openness of the Green Belt, the visual impact on the Green Belt and on the Severn Valley itself, not to mention the enjoyment of the users of the countryside."