CONTROVERSIAL plans to demolish a restaurant and replace it with six flats were rejected by planning chiefs.

Developers want to knock down the former Little Sauce Factory, now Pete's Restaurant, on the corner of London Road and Fort Royal Hill and replace it with six luxury flats. including a clock tower.

But an application to approve the £1 million scheme, as recommended by planning officers, was turned down at a planning meeting at Worcester Guildhall yesterday.

The grounds of refusal by the Worcester city councillors who sit on the planning committee was that the plans did not have enough regard to the character of the area and that they must protect the 'historic environment', including views of Worcester Cathedral.

The owner of the site, businessman Peter Styles, said he planned to lodge an appeal against the committee's decision.

Mr Styles told your Worcester News that he had spent three years on negotiations and consultations to redevelop the site and had spent around £40,000 on architect's fees alone.

The site already has planning permission for six flats as part of a smaller development which would leave the main building intact.