A plan to convert the historic George Inn near Slough into a car showroom and coffee shop has been refused by Buckinghamshire Council.

Planning officers said Mr Sadar Hussain’s plans for the derelict pub at 12 Post Office Lane, George Green would be ‘harmful to the Green Belt’.

The refusal of the planned overhaul of the George followed 30 objections to its redevelopment, including from Wexham Parish Council, which claimed there would be a ‘dramatic effect’ on the village.

Other objectors raised concerns about parking at the pub, the environmental impact of car exhausts at the showroom and the permanent loss of a watering hole that has served the community for over 150 years.

Mr Hussain proposed to build a car sales reception area in the main historic part of the listed building and promised to restore its original architectural features, including the fireplaces.

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He also proposed to set up a ‘barista style’ coffee shop by the reception area, which would have been open to the public.

The reception area would have included computer tablets to allow customers to browse the cars available for sale.

The car park of the George would have been transformed into the forecourt of the showroom, while the pub’s windows and doors would have been replaced.

Mr Hussain’s design and access statement did not once mention the showroom’s impact on the Green Belt, which was the main reason for refusal.

Planning officers wrote: “As well as causing harm to the Green Belt by virtue of its inappropriateness, other harm is caused to the Green Belt by way of a reduction in its openness.”

They also said the proposed car showroom would be ‘detrimental to the character and appearance of the site and locality’.

Meanwhile, the council’s heritage team found that the showroom would cause ‘harm’ to a listed building.

Planners also said that additional traffic around the site would ‘adversely affect safety’ and that the applicant had not showed that they would mitigate the high flood risk of the site.

The applicant claimed the site would hold a maximum of 37 cars at any one time, including visitors and cars on display.

However, Wexham Parish Council claimed that this number was already being ‘far outstripped’ by existing stock on the site and vehicles parked in the Post Office Lane area.

It added: “This uncontrolled overflow of vehicles is detrimental to the residential use by the private residents of the road altering the established characteristics of Post Office Lane.”

The McKenzie family are mentioned as landlords of Geroge Inn in World War 1 archives and census records and their son Archie, who died in 1916, is commemorated on the war memorial in the village.

The pub is also highlighted on the 1908 London Olympics Marathon map as a route marker.

To view the planning application, use the reference number PL/23/3393/FA in the Chiltern & South Bucks planning portal.