A decision has been made on The Royal Duchy Hotel's plans to build a new block of houses.

The hotel on Cliff Road applied for permission to knock down unused garages and old staff accommodation to build six residential mews houses.

The application received numerous objections including residents and Falmouth Civic Society. As reported in December, Falmouth Town Council said they would recommend approval providing the dwellings wouldn't be used for Airbnb, and offered out to local families.

At the Falmouth Town Council meeting, elderly couple Mr and Mrs Williams living close to the hotel raised concerns over the loss of light from the development, privacy, and whether the development was in keeping with the conservation area.

A spokesperson from CAD Architects (on behalf of the applicants) said that the current buildings offer no appearance of function and the owners believe it is "entirely appropriate" they should be put to use.

The application was refused this week (21st) with Cornwall Council's Chief Planning Officer Louise Wood stating: "By reason of its form, siting, location and proximity to the existing hotel would result in a cramped form of residential accommodation, with minimal amenity space, which fails to respond positively to local character or add to the overall quality of the surrounding Conservation Area and would cause unacceptable residential amenity impacts."

Click here to see the application for yourself.