A PUB chain’s plans to open a branch just yards from an historic New Forest church have been thrown out.
Wetherspoon wanted to convert a disused shop next to the 13th-century St Thomas’s Church in Lymington.
Nearly 200 people objected to the application, including New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne and the Lymington Society.
Members of New Forest District Council’s planning development control committee voted unanimously to reject the plan, prompting applause from the public gallery.
Cllr Ron Scrivens said: “This is an application that should not even be here today, simply because of the lack of information from the applicant and the lack of detail.”
The vicar of St Thomas’s, the Rev Peter Salisbury, claimed that the scheme would be “offensive to many people”.
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