Plans to knock down part of an Ilkley pub and build 22 houses have been rejected by parish councillors.

And residents have swamped planners with protests demanding the Wheatley Hotel be kept as a going concern.

The Ben Rhydding pub has been closed for nearly a year and owners Punch Taverns have teamed up with Antler Homes which wants to put 22 properties on the site. Part of the building would be converted and the rest demolished. It is understood that as the issue went before the Planning Committee of Ilkley Parish Council, more than 600 objections had been lodged.

Planning officer Martin Burke said: "We have received hundreds - more than I have ever seen for one application in nearly ten years here."

And Planning Committee members have recommended refusal on the grounds of over-dominance of the site and over-development.

Chairman councillor Audrey Brand said: "Current Government policy allows anything between 30 and 50 units per hectare. The Ben Rhydding development is for 22 units on 0.3 of a hectare which equates to 64 per hectare. That is over-development."

Campaigners aim to put up a fight to save their 'local'. The Save Us Pub (SUP) group believe the Wheatley could be run as a successful business. Steering group member Sandy MacPherson said it was good news that the Keighley brewer Timothy Taylor was interested in taking on the Wheatley. Last week Taylor's confirmed that it was interested in taking over the Wheatley and running it as a pub.

Andrew Daykin, the Tied Estate Manager for the company, said he was unable to comment on the bid.

No comment was available from Punch Taverns.