THREE out of four applications for blue plaques were turned down by English Heritage last year.

A Freedom of Information revealed an Oscar-winning actor and a record-breaking cricketer were among those refused by the organisation last year.

English Heritage awards roughly 12 blue plaques each year to buildings where a person of note either lived, worked or died.

There are scores across Dorset bestowed to a wide range of buildings.

They include recognition for Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, and Henry Joy, who built the Bournemouth Arcade in 1866.

The East Cliff Cottage Hotel bears a plaque dedicated to Stewart Granger and a plaque at the Langtry Manor Hotel commemorates how the hotel was built in 1877 for socialite and actress Lille Langtry.

Bournemouth town hall, built as the Hotel Mont Dore in 1875, has a plaque, as does Sir Percy Florence Shelley's former home in Shelley Park.

The Royal Bath Hotel, Bournemouth's first municipal beach hut and The Granville Chambers all have plaques and another marks the former home of world champion boxer Freddie Mills.

Latest informations reveals that 35 applications were turned down last year due to strict criteria.

Hollywood star Ronald Colman and test cricketer Albert Trott failed to make the cut.

Colman won the Academy Award for best actor in the 1947 film A Double Life and starred in a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s, while Melbourne-born Trott was best known for being the first - and only - player to have struck a ball so well it cleared the pavilion at Lord's in 1899. He defected to England and set himself up in county cricket.

Those that have had a plaque erected in their honour during the 12 months from October 2017 included painter Francis Bacon and Mary Poppins author PL Travers.