PLANS to build seven cliff top flats near Bournemouth seafront have been submitted to council planners.

The scheme by Westcoast Developments (Sandbanks) Ltd would see a four-storey flat development built at 7 East Overcliff Drive.

The site sits between the Miramar Hotel and 29 Grove Road - a two-storey block of flats.

Proposals include a basement area containing car parking for 15 vehicles as well as cycle storage.

Each floor will have two three-bedroom flats - except for the fourth storey which will have just one, larger three-bedroom flat.

According to the developers the proposal has been designed to be of "transitional scale" between the two-storey Miramar Hotel and seven-storey flat complex Elizabeth Court which is located just east of the proposed site.

This application follows a previous refusal of planning permission for a larger scheme to build 16 flats on the site at 7 East Overcliff Drive and 29 Grove Road, adjacent to the site.

The plans were turned down on appeal at the beginning of the year.

Bournemouth planners had said the scheme would have a negative impact on the nearby Miramar Hotel, and raised concern over the lack of a Section 106 agreement on affordable housing.

At appeal, the planning inspector upheld these complaints, adding that the development could also 'over-dominate' nearby homes.

In a report, the inspector said: "I appreciate that the Miramar Hotel is dominated on one side by a 1960s block of flats to the west.

"However, this makes it more important to ensure that new development on the other side is more sympathetic to its setting.

"And although the proposal would result in the loss of an unattractive building, and provide for development on a current unsightly gap, any benefits thereby arising would not outweigh the harm identified."

In the Design and Access Statement, Westcoast Developments, has said it has taken onboard the inspectors comments and the new proposals have sought to "directly address" the specific criticisms of that proposal.