Plans to build a large retirement home after demolishing two long-vacant shops have been refused by Bracknell Forest Council.

Retirement home company McCarthy Stone wanted to build a three-storey building of 38 retirement flats on Yorktown Road in Sandhurst.

It would have replaced the former Blinds and Awnings shop and JC Donnely and Son blacksmith near Coachmans Grove, which are both now vacant.

McCarthy Stone argued that the new retirement home would allow older people to downsize in comfort while remaining in the area. They said this would also help free up homes for families.

It said residents would have ‘comfort, care, security and the ability to manage independently’.

But council planning officers said the building would be too large for its surroundings – making it an overdevelopment of the site.

They also said that plans didn’t include enough parking spaces for cars and bikes, that the proposed access for delivery vehicles was not safe, and that drainage plans didn’t mitigate the increased risk of flooding.

Bracknell Forest Council’s refusal letter also suggests that planning officers and McCarthy Stone failed to reach agreements on legal obligations that would have to be met if permission was granted.

These included on financial contributions the company would make towards roads, transport and community facilities, on improving the environment, and on its contribution to affordable housing.