A PROPOSAL to turn an Exmoor hotel into a private house with a loss of eight jobs was overwhelmingly defeated by national park planners on Tuesday.

More than two dozen letters of objection to the closure of Tarr Steps Hotel were sent to the national park authority and a protest demo was staged before the committee meeting.

And the committee took notice, even though the park officers recommended approving the application.

The hotel, the home of Shaun and Sue Blackmore, is on a large Exmoor estate owned by the Harrison family until the last in line chose to sell his inheritance.

Tenancy of the hotel expires next March - but according to the new owner Malcolm Dudley-Williams, Mr and Mrs Blackmore had agreed to surrender their lease.

Mr Dudley-Williams, of Blackdown Sporting Estates, in London, applied to change the use of the hotel to a private house.

In a letter to the park authority, he said that Mr and Mrs Blackmore had signed a contract including a clause that states: "The tenants will not raise or communicate any objection to any application for planning consent relating to the property or any part thereof".

He wrote to planning officer Neil Pope: "We are surprised by the number of objections to this application and . . . upon further investigation we believe that a large number of these objections were solicited by persons as yet unknown.

"Some of the statements in the objectors' letters are very inaccurate."

These had included that there would be an impact upon the local economy, visitor accommodation and local employment opportunities would be lost, it would damage the tourist industry and it was contrary to national park purposes.

West Somerset District Council informed the park authority that it would regret the loss of the hotel in terms of tourism and employment opportunities.

Withypool and Hawkridge Parish Council regretted that eight jobs would be lost, and Dulverton Town Council supported the parish authority's decision.

The officers' report to the committee said the park authority's concern was to safeguard jobs in business rather than tourism, but added: "The loss of a hotel will have some impact upon the economy of the area."

However, the report recommended giving the go-ahead as precedents had been set and Tarr Steps Hotel was itself a former home, and a drop in visitor numbers would lessen traffic on the narrow lanes in "this 'honeypot' location".

But the committee members decided the reasons to reject the application outweighed those for its approval. They took into account the Local Plan, the effect of eight job losses on the local economy and the loss of visitor accommodation.

It is believed that the applicant will appeal against the decision.