The decision is based on the plan to convert the former Leicester Berni Inn into flats

A plan to turn a former Leicester city center pub and chain of steakhouses into flats cannot go ahead, council officers have ruled. Throughout the 1980s, the three-storey buildings at 6-8 Market Street were a pub called The Wolsey Tavern and a national steakhouse restaurant chain called the Berni Inn. It was then converted back into commercial space and is currently occupied by vintage clothing store White Rose on the ground floor and empty office space above.

An application to convert the upper floors of the premises, which is opposite the Market Street McDonald’s, into six flats and partially demolish the rear was submitted to Leicester City Council last year. Now planning officers have refused permission for the scheme on the grounds that the plan lacked information about “mechanical ventilation” in the building and methodology for how the proposed changes to the building would be made.

They also said there was “insufficient information” to determine whether the work would prove harmful to the historic setting. The building is listed, which means it is historically significant and care must be taken to protect it.

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Council officers also had concerns that the scheme would result in some of the building’s historic features being covered up, particularly at the rear. Officers acknowledged that some of the “existing visual clutter” behind the building would be removed, citing this as a benefit. However, they added that “a significant proportion of the brick rear elevation would be hidden behind new extensions”.

Officers raised similar concerns about internal changes in their decision report. They said the benefits would come from the “removal of existing stud walls that dilute the character of the historic room layouts”, including a wall that runs through a window that opens onto Market Street.

However, they added that “any potential benefit” would be “outweighed by damage from new subdivisions crossing historic chamber spaces and additional demolition of historic walls and features.” Moreover, they continued, “some opportunities were missed to restore the missing walls and make the new layout better re-establish the historic form.”

Despite the concerns raised, officers said they had “no objection in principle to the conversion of the upper floors from office use to residential use”. In fact, they added, there would be benefits from “bringing the property to a more productive use”.