Architectural campaigners have failed in a bid to halt new building in Winchester.

Five residents' groups had asked Winchester City Council to impose a temporary moratorium on granting planning permission in the city centre.

Their concerns that too many "inappropriate" buildings were being planned for the city were prompted after a series of controversial planning permissions had been granted.

They were also worried that people living in suburban areas around the historic centre did not have an adequate say in what was built where.

However, Winchester City Council's cabinet rejected their appeal on Wednesday for an inquiry into how planning decisions were made.

The meeting heard that current appeal procedures were adequate.

Sue Nelmes told fellow councillors: "You can't hold every plan up to every member of the public and ask: 'Shall we do this?'"

Council leader, Sheila Campbell, said: "The historic centre of the city is a continuum of styles and I think we should give space to the modern contemporary."