CAMPAIGNERS have won their battle to save a landmark cafe on the edge of the New Forest.

Government planners have rejected an application to bulldoze the Marine Cafe at Hurst Road, Milford on Sea, and build luxury accommodation on the site.

The proposal to replace the art deco complex with a new cafe and an adjoining home was debated by the district council last year.

Councillors voted against the scheme after objectors claimed that the whole of the proposed new building could eventually be turned into a house.

Milford parish councillor Brian Giles told the planning and development control committee that the proposal was "no more than a smokescreen to create cover for the possible closure of the cafe".

Applicant Richard Thompson was represented by planning consultant Jerry Davies, who described the current building as an eyesore which often falls victim to vandalism.

However, councillors refused the application on the grounds that the site would no longer be mainly commercial if the development were given the go-ahead.

Mr Thompson lodged an appeal in a bid to save the scheme.

Now planning inspector Keith Giddens has upheld the council's decision, saying the scheme amounts to inappropriate development in the green belt.

His report says: "The site is more than 100 metres beyond the eastern limit of the built-up area of Milford.

"The applicant has claimed that the proposal is, to all intents and purposes, the same structure that already has planning permission.

"This is true in general terms but in my view the high perimeter wall and the enclosure of the front patio area would reduce the openness of the area."