ANGRY hoteliers are calling for a council decision change after permission was given for cars to access new flats via the promenade in Weymouth.

The former Greenhill Hotel is being converted into flats with new driveway access being installed on the beach side and out on to the promenade to replace existing access to the road at the front of the building next to St John’s Church.

Bed and breakfast owners were left dismayed when Weymouth and Portland Borough Council’s planning and traffic committee voted in favour of allowing car access onto the promenade to enter Brunswick Terrace.

Dave Bennett, owner of the Penn House Hotel on Brunswick Terrace, said: “It’s just not right.

“What they are doing is absolutely awful.”

Mr Bennett and his fellow hoteliers say the decision destroys the only uninterrupted pedestrian access from holiday accomodation to the beach in the resort.

Council officers recommended shutting the front access on to Greenhill due to restricted visibility.

Mr Bennett added: “They did not realise the safety aspect of it.

“They are going to knock a whole in the wall and come out on to the terrace.

“But at the front they will have approximately 13 feet out on the pavement and very clear vision.”

The Greenhill Hotel is a Grade II listed building and will retain its exterior features.

It was built in the first half of the 19th century as a private house for the Duke of Somerset.

It will become four apartments and a 20th century extension is to be knocked down to make way for a new town house.

Mr Bennett has handed in a complaint and a petition to the council and said he would take his battle to the local government ombudsman if he needed to.

He said the new vehicle access wouldpose a danger topedestrians who go on to the promenade from the pavement next to the bed and breakfasts at Brunswick Terrace. He added: “Somebody is going to get hurt.”

Wayne Nicholas, owner of the Spindrift bed and breakfast, said the vehicle access would have a negative impact. He said: “It’s always been a beautifully quiet road.”

And Robert Mann, owner of the Redcliffe, added: “It’s a little erosion of a nice part of Weymouth.”