A BED and breakfast owner who desperately wants to retire said she has been left "shattered" by a ruling that effectively forces her to continue working.

Sandra Smart, 64, is in poor health and is now struggling to continue running the Woodlands B&B in Percy Road, Boscombe on her own.

She has run the 10-bedroom business for 16 years but now wants to stop looking after guests and move her son and daughter and their families into the property.

Her request was supported by all three Boscombe East councillors, local residents and fellow guest house owner Debbie Payne.

But it was refused by Bournemouth's planning board, who expressed concerns the business had not been actively marketed for long enough and could be made viable.

Councillors did tell her she could simply stop taking in guests and move her family in without officially changing the use of the building but Mrs Smart said this was impossible because the Woodlands would still officially be a commercial property, with all the associated rules, regulations and bills.

"Effectively I have no choice but to continue taking in enough guests to make ends meet," she said. "I was dumbfounded by the decision, just gobsmacked. It has left me shattered."

The grandmother suffers from chronic asthma, osteoporosis and arthritis and has been advised by her doctor to reduce her workload.

"I've been doing this kind of work all my life and I just want to wind down now. My children help me out all they can but they both work so they can only help me at the weekends. I was just trying to do things properly."

She now intends to appeal the decision and submit a new planning application after the summer, which she said would show the business cannot compete with big hotel chains.

Mrs Payne, owner of the Rosscourt hotel and partner in Boscombe Resort Hotels, said: "It will be incredibly difficult for anyone to get finance from a bank to buy this business because it does not make enough profit.

"Occupancy is 30 to 35 percent if you are lucky. You have to be rammed in the summer to survive the winter because there isn't the trade there.

"Sixty accommodation providers have shut their doors in Boscombe since 1999 and we are still not busy. Even the Chine Hotel closed through the winter."

Mark Smith, director of tourism, said: "Under planning policy the planning board is unable to consider the personal circumstances of the applicant.

"The Woodlands Hotel has not been actively marketed for the last 12 months yet with some investment in marketing and advertising the business could continue to be profitable."