A popular pub in Barkham has had aspirations to expand the business to add a hotel to the venue quashed.

Ye Olde Lethearn Bottel on Barkham Road wanted to expand the site to create a 13-bedroom hotel but was refused planning permission by Wokingham Borough Council.

The pub bosses wanted to build 13 rooms for accommodation, with associated changes to access and parking. They also wanted to make major changes to the internal layout, including a remodelling of the kitchen and inside dining area.

Five rooms would be built on the first floor, while an extra building comprising of eight rooms would be built next door. Access to the site via Barkham Road would be amended to improve visibility.

Agents Pegasus Group said that the proposals would ‘support the pub’s offering by providing self-contained overnight accommodation for short leisure and business trips in a semi-rural setting’. Access to Wokingham town centre and the motorway also made this a desirable location, according to owners.

But Wokingham Borough Council planning officers refused the plans as they considered it would have a ‘detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the area’.

Surrounded by countryside, officers added that the increase in buildings on the site would result in a loss of vegetation, which would negatively impact ‘the green route of Barkham Road’.

The failed application had received dozens of objections from neighbouring properties, with many worried about the impact the accommodation would have on traffic.

One wrote in a letter to the council: “Being a direct neighbour to the pub – the proposed development would have a significant impact from a noise perspective given that a hotel is a 24/7 operation.”

The local added that the hotel would ‘completely change the look and feel for the area and dominate what is a local traditional environment’.

Barkham Parish Council also submitted an objection to the application. Although the site of the pub falls just outside the authority’s boundary, it argued that it will affect residents regardless.

A council officer wrote: “Barkham Road is a fast, heavily used road which is becoming busier with continuous housing development thereby increasing the number of people wishing to travel into Wokingham.

“It could also be argued that extending the facilities at The Leathern Bottel could attract additional traffic in its own right.”

Owners of Ye Old Leathern Bottel have been approached for comment.