THE owners of a popular beachfront restaurant have gone back to the drawing board after plans to extend were refused following a planning appeal.

Architects have been instructed to come up with a revised scheme to provide more seating at the Noisy Lobster at Mudeford.

Plans for an additional floor were first turned down by Christchurch planners, then by a government inspector.

But owner Peter Hayward said he is not going to give up despite being "naturally very disappointed."

He told the Daily Echo: "Our application was always customer driven. Over the four years we have been running and improving the facility we have taken on board comments made by our customers. We desperately need more seating capacity and the provision of a self-contained dining facility would have satisfied all.

"We have carefully considered the inspector's report and are working with architects to produce a revised scheme for the Christchurch planners to consider."

Mr Hayward had hoped to add another floor to create seating for a further 46 customers but his application attracted a 479-signature petition and 131 letters of objection.

After a visit to the site, planning inspector Rory Cridland agreed with Christchurch planners that such a development would be "visually intrusive" and "out of character."

He said it would have a detrimental effect on the view across the bay.

"When viewed from the promenade and from along the beach, the increased bulk and size of the extension would result in a building which would dominate the beachfront" he said.

"It would appear visually intrusive, appearing both out of scale and out of character with the surrounding landscape features."

He said the loss of part of the view would "further erode the character of the surroundings and would negatively impact on local distinctiveness."