Controversial plans to turn a family home into an eight-bed house share have been rejected after plans sparked anger among residents.

The plans included building a two-storey rear extension on a family home on Atherley Road to turn it into a house in multiple occupation, known as a HMO.

However, the Head of Transport and Planning at Southampton City Council, Pete Boustred, rejected the plans citing it would create an “excessive concentration” of HMOs in the local area.

The decision also took into account the number of people coming in and out of the house which would create “noise and disturbance” and would be “uncharacteristic of the local area”.

READ MORE: All the Southampton houses which could be turned into HMOs

The building of the two-storey rear extension and roof extension would appear “out of keeping and over-dominate” the appearance of the property.

Loss of privacy and poor living conditions as a result of poor daylight in one of the rooms were also mentioned as one of the reasons for the plans to be rejected.

It comes after anonymous objection letters were submitted to the council’s portal opposing the plans.

One resident said: "As a family on the same street, we want to see more family homes in this area, not more HMOs".

Another family agreed and said: "Work has been going on at the property for months already. 

"Excavation work has been done at the front and rear of the property and there has been a lot of smoke coming over due to fires in the garden.

"Parking is tight on this road as it is and there have been many road traffic accidents at the Howard / Atherley junction. Adding another HMO will only make this situation worse."

A house in multiple occupation is defined by the Government as a property rented out by at least three people who are not from one 'household', for example a family but share facilities like the bathroom and kitchen.