Proposals to convert an empty former mill in East Road, Bridport, into two two-bedroom homes has been refused.

Bridport Town Council had supported the application, although it recognised that the Bridport Area Neighbourhood Plan had earmarked the site for employment use.

Town councillors decided that the benefit of affordable housing outweighed the preferred use for the site.

But Dorset Council took the opposite view, saying there was nothing to justify a departure in policy and said the site sits within the East Road Trading Estate.

A case officer concluded that the property also lies in a flood zone and claimed that the proposal would result in poor quality accommodation, with a lack of outdoor space.

A summary said the applicants had also failed to demonstrate how future residents would be protected from environmental noise in the area.

The planning application for 20 The Flat, East Road – also known as Asker Mill – described it as 880 square metres of "empty and redundant light industrial buildings", claiming it was last used in November 2018.

The mill is said to have dated from the mid 19th century with other parts of the complex dating from the 1930s.

A heritage statement said that when the current owners took occupancy of the building, the first floor was in residential use and the ground floor was office space supporting a light industrial unit.

PAAD Architects, acting for owner Tom Halifax, said the site, which is not part of any conservation area, is surrounded by a variety of uses, including takeaway food business, offices, industrial uses and some residential properties.

The architects argued that, because of the surroundings, the conversion to residential would be unlikely to attract high end or the holiday rental sector and will therefore "be accessible to a wider demographic", with bus stops nearby and the site only 600 metres from the centre of Bridport.

A statement said the property had been empty for two years and had been put on the market, although attracted no commercial interest. It said the proposed conversion would make residential use a more attractive proposition than the building remaining empty.