A PLAN to build a huge storage business on one of Bournemouth’s busiest roads has been rejected.

Bournemouth council said the proposed six-storey facility in Castle Lane East, next to the Tesco Extra superstore, was "very boxy and utilitarian" in design and would dominate the road.

Lok’nStore storage facilities offer units in various sizes for storage, chiefly for individuals, although 20 per cent of customers are businesses, the firm says.

Council planning officers expressed concern over the height of the proposed building, its prominent location by the road and its use of cladding with few glass surfaces.

A report by planning officer Sophie Edwards states: "Although Castle Lane East is a very wide and busy route, it has retained a spacious feel, which gives the area a sense of openness and relatively undeveloped character, particularly as Wessex Fields lies on the outskirts of the conurbation, and is within close proximity of the green belt."

The report says the scheme "would result in a form of overdevelopment which would appear unduly prominent" due to its "excessive scale, bulk, mass, footprint and height".

Concerns about the scheme were raised by businesses on the neighbouring site including insurance firm RIAS, and by consultees including Natural England and Dorset Wildlife Trust.

According to the council's report "the proposed development would result in a loss in biodiversity, and sufficient measures have not been offered to ensure, as a worst-case scenario, that no net-loss in biodiversity would be prevented".

Ward councillor Lawrence Williams told the Echo earlier this year that he would have fought the application before the planning board had officers been minded to approve it.

When the application was submitted there were concerns the development might contribute to the severe congestion which regularly seizes up Castle Lane East, however the council concluded that this "does not represent a concern".

The patch of land that makes up the site is green field but earmarked for use as employment land as part of the wider Wessex Fields business park.