PLANS to base an independent airport parking scheme at Adventure Wonderland have been withdrawn - after the proposal was recommended for refusal.

The scheme to use part of the car park at the popular theme park for an airport parking service run by BOMA Ltd, was pulled from the planning process at the end of October.

Planning officers at Christchurch Borough Council had recommended the scheme for refusal.

It comes after the airport had raised concerns about 'unregulated meet and greet services', saying they had received a number of customer complaints.

Previously, Paul Knight, managing director of Bournemouth Airport, said: "We receive a lot of complaints about 'off airport' parking but, as they operate independently of the airport, we have no way of helping those who have booked with these organisations.

"We are committed to providing the best possible customer service and it is frustrating for us that we cannot assist some of our passengers with their complaints."

But John Smith, managing director of BOMA Ltd, the company behind the scheme, said the decision to withdraw did not mark the end of the project.

“We haven’t withdrawn the scheme permanently we just felt we needed more time to gather information which would help strengthen our application,” said Mr Smith.

“The aim is to get this scheme approved straight away, we don’t want a long drawn out process.

“We are not making any major changes to the application we just want to add more information to out travel plan to make sure the traffic impact on motorists is kept to a minimum.”

The new car park would service 50 vehicles, which would be collected from customers at the terminal and then returned to them on their arrival.

The applicants are hoping to resubmit their application within four weeks.

A spokesman from Adventure Wonderland said: "This application is all about giving people choice.

"We have been bowled over by the public support for this scheme from people who understand that the only way to get reasonable parking charges for Bournemouth Airport is through healthy competition," he added.

"This application is fantastic news for residents as it will help to eliminate the illegal parking on verges and roadways that has blighted Hurn for years.

"If the airport's own predicted growth is fully justified it has nothing to fear and they should be happy that with cheaper parking more customers are likely to use them as a destination."

The applicants are working with Trading Standards to ensure all safety and security aspects are covered.

A spokesman from Christchurch council confirmed the applicants were within their rights to withdraw their scheme in order to resubmit it at a later date.

"It will be treated as a completely new application and will therefore have to go through the entire consultation process again," he added.