PLANS to turn an office into a two-bedroom flat have been rejected.

New Forest District Council has refused an application relating to a property at Whitefield Road in New Milton.

A report to councillors said the property was currently vacant but was previously an insurance office.

It added: "The proposal would result in the total loss of a ground floor commercial unit. It is in the defined secondary shopping frontage and offers premises which could attract a wide range of appropriate main town centre uses.

"The proposed development would result in the inappropriate introduction of ground floor residential use within New Milton's secondary shopping frontage that would unacceptably compromise the vitality of the frontage."