A BOURTON pub is hopeful it can come to an amicable agreement to defuse a dispute with planners.

The Duke of Wellington in Sherborne Street is one of two pubs to run into trouble with district planners but hopes that a meeting with Cotswold District Council can come up with a solution.

It has been told it cannot keep its hanging baskets while the Old Manse Hotel could still be ordered to remove hard surfacing from its outdoor terrace.

District councillors meeting earlier this month agreed to refuse listed building consent for the Duke of Wellington to keep the 17 hanging baskets, three flagpole holders, four soot lights, three floodlights, three lanterns, one alarm box and one CCTV camera.

Officers said the building had been "totally overwhelmed by the fixtures" but their efforts to negotiate with the owners had failed, partly because of communication problems caused by new owners and managers taking on the pub.

Councillor Sheila Jeffrey said: "The overall scheme is becoming excessive."

Her fellow Bourton councillor, Dudley Mills, disagreed, but councillors still refused the application.

Graham Manwaring, from the pub's owner Traditional Freehouses, said the company had only bought the pub from Tom Hoskins plc, in May. He added: "Hopefully, we will manage to resolve the situation by having a meeting and discussing it. We didn't know there were any planning problems."

The Old Manse in Victoria Street was told last year it would not be allowed to pave a grassed area in front of the hotel used for seating, but has now paved it, citing the examples of nearby restaurants and cafes with hard-surfacing.

Planning officer John Graville said that because of this he did not think it was appropriate to force the hotel to remove the paving, but members decided they would look at the site before making a decision.