HOUSING bosses have vowed to continue their clampdown on the spread of Clacton’s bedsit-land after plans to convert a former guesthouse were rejected.

Nash and Sharpe put forward plans to create 11 new bedsits at the former Marine View Guest House, in Edith Road, which it has run since 2013.

Tendring Council had launched a clampdown on the spread of bedsits in the town centre in a bid to reduce anti-social problems.

It issued an enforcement notice in May 2016 over the unauthorised change of use at the guest house, which was upheld by a Government inspector on appeal last year.

But the inspector decided that four bedsit flats were immune from the action taken by the council.

A new application for an additional 11 self-contained bedsits has now been rejected by council planners, who said the proposal goes against policies which aim to ensure an acceptable quality of life for the people living there.

The council said there was insufficient living space at the former guesthouse, and there was no provision for waste storage or recycling.

Housing boss and Pier ward councillor Paul Honeywood said: “When you have got a high concentration of bedsits, it doesn’t help the town to prosper.

“It doesn’t help tourism or the community and I don’t think it helps the people who live in them.

“All round, it is not the answer for our town at all.

“When this particular application was submitted, I met with quite a few local residents who shared my concerns about houses in multiple occupation in our town.

“I think the decision to reject the plans is the right one and the council will continue to oppose applications that are not right for the town.”

The council was given powers in 2011 allowing it to issue a direction that meant all home owners must seek planning permission if they want to change their home to multiple occupancy house.

In a planning statement, Nash and Sharpe’s agent Robin Bryer said the owners had advertised the availability of the property for holiday accommodation on the popular Air B&B lettings website without success.

He added: “The alternative of providing B&B accommodation for council-funded customers has neighbourliness problems, deserved or not, for other residents in the locality.”

He said the 11 self-contained bedsits would have provided the chance of independent living for leaseholders, who would have been “better behaved” than more transient occupiers.