A BID to demolish most of Bournemouth’s former Odeon cinema building and replace it with a 10-storey block has been rejected as “unacceptable”.

The application – which would have kept the building’s frontage but replaced most of what lies behind it – was thrown out by planning officers without reaching councillors.

Developer Libra Homes is still waiting to hear about a second application for an even bigger building, but a planning officer said of the first that there was “little justification for the provision of a tall building on this site”.

The application was for 84 flats, two floors of shopping space and 97 car park spaces. It attracted 48 letters of objection, including submissions from Bournemouth Civic Society, the Cinema Theatre Association, Save Britain’s Heritage, the Theatres Society and the Twentieth Century Society.

Planning officer Simon Gould said the development “would result in an unacceptable, unjustified and substantial loss of an existing locally listed building”.

He added: “In addition, the proposed replacement is of an excessive scale, bulk, height and poor design that would be out of character and appear as an incongruous addition to the retained section of the locally listed building, resulting in harm to its appearance and setting.”

It was said the development would harm not only the Westover Road building but other “heritage assets” including the Premier Inn, formerly the Palace Court Hotel, the former ice rink building, the Pavilion and Lower Gardens.

It was also stated the six-storey addition to the front of the former cinema would “totally overwhelm the building” and would display “two unrelated and jarring architectural forms”.

Bournemouth Civic Society had submitted new evidence of the original decorative features of the Odeon which remain intact behind the 1960s additions.

Mr Gould’s report said the “merits of the interior are acknowledged” but said it would be difficult to add this as a reason for refusing a planning application unless the building’s listed status changed. Its local listing is based on its external appearance.

James Weir, the society’s heritage and conservation officer, said: “We are very pleased that this destructive and obtrusive proposal has been refused.

“We are hopeful that the applicant will now consider secondary options for reuse, or at least prepare revised proposals which not only conserve the historic fabric, but respect the significance of the heritage asset and its setting.”

The Westover Road Odeon closed last month to make way for a 10-screen multiplex at the BH2 leisure development. Libra Homes has also bought Westover Road’s former ABC cinema.