DEVELOPERS have hit back after planners rejected a second application to bulldoze a Hampshire hotel that was partly designed by legendary author Arthur Conan Doyle.

Award-winning PegasusLife has criticised the New Forest National Park Authority (NPA) for refusing an application that comprised more than 70 retirement apartments and 15 affordable homes.

The Winchester-based company claimed the scheme would have been a “vast improvement” on the NPA’s own housing record.

Guy Flintoft, public policy and planning director atof PegasusLife, said the authority delivered just three affordable homes in 2015-16.

He spoke out after the NPA rejected the latest application to bulldoze the Lyndhurst Park Hotel and transform the site, which dominates the eastern entrance to the village.

As reported in the Daily Echo, The scheme was thrown out after sparking 860 objections. The hotel is next door to the headquarters of the district council, which said the proposed development was more suited to an urban setting than a gateway to the New Forest.

The Victorian Society and the Georgian Group both lodged formal objections to the proposed demolition of the building. They cited its recently-unearthed links to Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, who lived at nearby Brook and helped redesign the hotel in 1912.

But Mr Flintoft said: “It’s disheartening that the provision of housing for older people is so often disregarded.

“People over 60 want attractive, future-proof homes that will remain suitable for the rest of their lives. We know this from the enquiries we get every week from people living in Lyndhurst who are desperately keen to find a smaller, more manageable home to live in.”

The 60-bed hotel, which is not listed, has stood vacant since it closed in 2014 with the loss of more than 20 jobs.

The company’s original proposal to build more than 70 retirement flats and 12 holiday lets on the site was rejected by the NPA earlier this year.

PegasusLife later submitted a new scheme after replacing the holiday lets with affordable homes.

Mr Flintoft said: “It’s disappointing that this amendment to our application has been largely ignored by campaigners, despite being raised by locals as a key reason for the original refusal.

“In recent months there has been a lot of focus on the historical significance of the site.

“It’s a position that has twice been rejected by Historic England, a public body tasked with championing historic places and helping the public to understand, value and care for them.”

The company could decide to lodge an appeal or submit a new application.