PLANS to convert the Bay Hotel in Lyme Regis into lux ury flats have been re-submit ted, six months after the orig inal application was with drawn. Owner Larry Gibbons wants to turn the 1920s seafront land mark into nine apartments and build a health and fitness suite at the site. Lyme Regis Town Council reject ed his original application - for ten apartments - in May on a number of grounds, including over develop ment of the site and the loss of a town centre employment facility. Mr Gibbons later withdrew the application before it ever went before district councillors. The new application has been met with disdain by the Lyme Regis Society, which also opposed the previous application. The society's planning officer Steven Wilkins, told the News: "The reduction of the number of flats from ten to nine still does not make it acceptable - even with the sweetener of a spa in the base ment. "Lyme is working hard to extend its tourist season beyond the sum mer months. World Heritage status gives it a chance to appeal to a wider clientele, as does the grow ing demand for short breaks. "Not everybody wants to stay in B&B. In fact, the tourist informa tion centre tells us there is an unmet demand for hotel accommo dation. "And people who want hotel accommodation don't just settle for B&B: they move on down the coast instead. "The loss of the Bay Hotel would be a severe blow, for it has a central position in Lyme - visually, geo graphically and economically. "Surely a hotel in such an unri valled position could be made to work." Mr Wilkins said planners should refuse the application because the loss of holiday accommodation was a relevant planning issue. He said he was also concerned about the very large garage in Coombe Street, which Mr Gibbons also owns. Restaurateur Clive Cobb, who runs The Fish restaurant in Langmoor Gardens, said losing the Bay Hotel would have a severe impact on the smaller traders in Lyme Regis. He said: "Losing the Bay is a problem for Lyme Regis and local business. "A town like this needs a good mix, and there aren't the places for people to stay any more. "We've now lost the Buena Vista, The Tudor, the Kent House Hotel - we're talking about almost 200 rooms a night disappearing. Possibly 400 people a night. "If each couple spent £40 a day in the town, over a year that's a poten tial loss of almost £3m to the town. "Lyme can't end up as a desert - we need the mix." Mr Gibbons was unavailable for comment this week, but he told the News in December last year that he thought the development would be something different that would enhance the area. He said: "We didn't come to the business to change it but we've seen how hard it is to find staff and the money involved in bringing the hotel up to scratch is too much. "This way we are replacing the hotel with something else. We're choosing to bring something new to Lyme Regis." He said the development would probably be too exclusive for affordable homes as they wouldn't fit with Marine Parade. Plans can be seen at the town council offices in Church Street or on-line at www.westdorset- dc.gov.uk. Comments are invited until October 29.  The Bay Hotel is a Mecca for lovers of the Inspector Morse nov els by Colin Dexter. One of his nov els, The Way Through the Woods, is set at the Bay Hotel and even includes its telephone number. The hotel is popular with Morse fans, particularly Germans, who always want to stay in room 27, where the novel's main character stayed. It has also had many other famous guests, including David Attenborough, Jane Krakowski of Ally McBeal, Jonathan Hyde and author Howard Jacobson.