CONSERVATIONISTS are celebrating a major victory in their campaign to preserve the character of Lymington.

A government-appointed planning inspector has rejected an application by McCarthy & Stone to build more than 50 old people's flats on a site at Southampton Road.

Robert Marshall, who chaired a three-day public inquiry into the scheme, said the proposed development would dwarf surrounding homes.

He added that the harm caused to the town would outweigh any benefits that would arise from an increase in sheltered accommodation.

His report said: "The considerable length of the proposed building would result in a development so out of keeping with houses in the vicinity that it would be detrimental to the character and appearance of the area."

Members of the Lymington Society are celebrating the inspector's ruling.

The society is battling against developers who want to demolish family homes in the town and replace them with large blocks of flats.

Dental surgeon Dr Donald Mackenzie, the society's press spokesman, welcomed the defeat of the Southampton Road scheme: "We're hugely relieved that the inspector has agreed with our detailed arguments to the inquiry on the harm that the huge development would have done to the character of the surrounding area," he said.

"We were determined at all costs to resist this development, which would have been so out of keeping with the surrounding buildings."

Dr Mackenzie praised the district council's decision to oppose the scheme and give evidence at the inquiry.

He added: "Hopefully the rejection of the development by the inspector will deter other developers from bringing forward such huge and dominating developments in the future.

"The society will be vigilant in opposing any similar schemes that we feel would harm the character of the town."