A PROMINENT restaurateur says he has been left "baffled" by the suspicions of senior Bournemouth councillors about his latest venture.

Mehdi Zadeh, who owns the Tiien Thai restaurants in Broadstone and at the Bournemouth Highcliff Marriot Hotel, has recently purchased the nine-bed Roselyn Hotel on West Cliff Road.

Mr Zadeh sought to re-instate the premises' previous licence, which had been allowed to lapse under the hotel’s last owner, in order to serve alcohol in the ground floor restaurant.

After receiving objections on the grounds of “public nuisance” from neighbouring residents - led by their ward councillor and council leader John Beesley - Mr Zadeh scaled back his plan.

He agreed to limit the number of covers in the restaurant to 40 and a terminal hour of 11pm for non-residents, among other licensing conditions.

Mr Zadeh, who is in the process of refurbishing the property, submitted an application to build an extension with a 4.5m depth for storage - which would have been allowed without formal consent if it had not been for a commercial property.

Despite the planning officer recommending the extension for approval by citing that it would not be visible from the road or be of detriment to the area’s character, Cllr Beesley made a 12-minute deputation at the borough’s April planning board meeting in opposition.

Cllr Beesley said the differing drawings shown on the planning application – which had been amended after Mr Zadeh decided to reduce the size of the extension in response to residents’ concerns – and the licensing application had “created confusion” and that “all is not as it seems”.

This prompted planning board chairman Cllr David Kelsey to tell the public meeting that, although there was no legal reason to reject the plans, he felt Mr Zadeh had been “very cunning”.

“We’re almost at the point where we have to just try and get him on the conditions,” said Cllr Kelsey.

“Deep down we are not stupid people, the residents are not stupid people and we know what the likelihood of this place is going to turn out to be.”

Fellow planning board member Cllr Stephen Bartlett added: "I’m racking my brains really to think of any material reason as to why this can be refused – and I can’t actually think of any."

The planning officer reminded the councillors that they were only being tasked with deciding on the plans that had been submitted.

The plans were approved, but included a condition meaning Mr Zadeh is not allowed to a put a fridge-freezer in the storage space, which adjoins the kitchen.

After the meeting, Mr Zadeh told the Daily Echo he intends to run the Roselyn as a hotel with a ground floor eatery, and has been left “baffled” by the councillors’ speculation that he has any other different plans for the site.

“I don’t want to cause my neighbours any disturbance,” said Mr Zadeh.

“In all the time that I have run Tiien at the Marriot, we haven’t once received a complaint about excessive noise or any disturbances, and none of the responsible authorities have objected to these plans.

"This is a small business and I feel it is something the council should be encouraging, not attacking.”

Cllr Beesley, who also owns hotel consultancy Hospitality Solutions, told the Echo he stood by his concerns, and that he had just been voicing the worries of his residents.