Plans for a winery at Burton Bradstock have been delayed by a Dorset Council planning decision on the Bennetts Hill Lane site.

The council has refused to allow the development under 'prior approval' rules, which will mean having to apply for full planning consent if the project is to continue.

The Bradstock Estate had requested permission put erect an agricultural building for use as a winery, after withdrawing a previous planning application in 2022 for change of use of a nearby building from stables to a wine production facility.

Dorset Council has decided that the newly-proposed building, measuring 50 by 15 metres, fails to meet the criteria for a prior approval application. It said that with a production and packaging area on the ground floor and a mezzanine floor, which would include a tasting area, glass balcony, and formal parking area for 12 cars, it could not be considered "agricultural".

The site is within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Said the planning case officer: "Prior approval is required and refused because the proposed development would involve the construction of a building, hard landscaping and formal carparking the extent of which go beyond what is reasonably necessary for the purposes of agriculture."

The options open to the estate include an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, or working up a full planning application for Dorset Council, which is likely to have to include detailed landscaping proposals and designs for site access, with the possibility of requests from the planning department for further reports.