BEALES has offered customers a discount as a thank-you for their support against a bid to turn the top floors of its Bournemouth store into flats.

Councillors recently unanimously rejected an application by Beales’ landlord to convert four storeys of its building.

A meeting of the borough’s planning committee heard the scheme described as “shabby” and “appalling”.

There were 7,500 objections to the scheme, although the planning consultant representing landlord AEW UK Core Property Fund said most of them were “tick-boxed”. He claimed officers had been “hoodwinked” into recommending the plans for refusal.

Adverts in the store and in the Daily Echo offered Beales customers in Bournemouth and Poole a 10 per cent discount last weekend and this coming weekend.

The ad took the form of a message from store director Nicky Washington, who said: “All our staff at Beales Department Store wish to thank Bournemouth Borough Council and over 7,500 local residents for your wonderful support in saving our flagship store on Old Christchurch Road from the threat of development.”

It added: “We pledge to continue our efforts to serve our community in the month and years to come. Thank you, one and all.”

Beales chairman Stuart Lyons said: “The purpose of the advertisement is to give our heartfelt thanks to Bournemouth Borough Council and the 7,500 local residents who objected to the recent planning application from our landlords.

“Our staff were very upset by the cynical threat to the store and their livelihoods. We were overwhelmed by the public outpouring of good will and hugely relieved that the council saw the proposal for what it was.

“Our offer to reduced prices for two weekends and the period in-between is our way of saying ‘thank-you, Bournemouth’ and showing that we are here to stay.”

Planning consultant Ian Johnson, representing the landlord, had told Bournemouth’s planning board that the scheme would protect Beales following its recent financial problems. In March, the company won creditors’ support for a company voluntary agreement to cut rents at many of its stores.

But planning board chairman Cllr David Kelsey told councillors to disregard the financial aspects of the case.

“It’s pretty disappointing for an applicant to come in, put their planning application forward and talk only about the financial situation of a store in the town,” he said.

He said the size of the rooms in the flats was “appalling” and described the whole scheme as “Shabby”.

Beales was founded on its current site in Old Christchurch Road in 1881. The original building was destroyed by a German bomb in 1943.