CAMPAIGNERS battling to save Lymington bus station have failed in their attempt to secure special protection for the town centre facility.

Civic chiefs rejected a plea to designate the site in Lymington High Street as as Asset of Community Value (ACV) under the Localism Act 2011.

The bus station closed to passengers last year and is currently used by the owners Go Ahead Group, to park vehicles not in use.

New Forest District Council has received a planning application to build sheltered housing and a shop on the site.

But the £10million scheme is being fought by the Friends of Lymington Bus Station group, which wants the building to be retained as a transport hub.

Scores of people supported the bid to have the site declared an ACV. But despite gaining the backing of town councillors they have seen their plea rejected by the district council.

Now, campaigners are hoping to persuade the authority to reject the application.

It has already received objections from Lymington residents, the town council and the local highways authority, Hampshire County Council.

The ACV request was contested by Go Ahead Group's solicitors, DACbeachcroft.

They said the bus station was no longer commercially viable, adding that no other operator had expressed an interest.

A council spokesman said: "There are bus services into Lymington, and the High Street and Gosport Street have bus stops and other facilities.

"Information concerning bus times can be found on bus stops or online and there is no particular reason to believe the station itself is a property that provides social well-being to the local community.

"A well-run bus service may provide great benefit to the community but this is not what the act is intended to cover."

Accountant Peter Simpson, founder of Friends of Lymington Bus Station, said he was "very disappointed" that the ACV request had been turned down.

He added: "More than 100 people supported the application and a large majority of the electorate are understood to want the bus station to be protected and re-opened to the public."

The application to redevelop the site has been submitted by Ringwood-based Renaissance Development.

Simon McFarlane, the company's associate director of planning, said people living in the proposed new flats would contribute to the vitality and economic viability of the High Street.

The council says it expects to make a decision on the application in September.