Guesthouse owners have spoken of their disappointment following a decision by planners to ignore protests, including two petitions, and give permission for a 50-bedroom budget hotel to be built on the outskirts of Helston.

Work can now begin on a Premier Travel Inn and accompanying Brewers Fayre restaurant on land next to the relief road off Clodgey Lane, after a planning application by Whitbread PLC was approved by the planning committee of Kerrier district council.

Back in May, Sarah Payne, owner of the Lyndale Cottage Guest House with her husband Trevor, was joined by fellow hotel owners Elaine and David Waddoups from the Gwealdues Hotel and Carol-Jane Hicks from The Bell Inn, to picket Helston town council in protest at the plans.

Speaking on Monday, following the district council decision to grant planning permission, she said: "I'm just disappointed really. I think it will have a huge effect on winter trade."

Since the time the application was first submitted, the district council has received 11 letters of objection and two petitions containing a total of 35 signatures in protest over the proposed development. In contrast, just one letter of support was received.

Outline planning permission had already been granted for a slightly smaller, 30-bedroom hotel and restaurant, but the latest proposal, which also includes plans for 105 car parking spaces and six cycle racks, was a brand new application from different developers.

The proposed development has been designed to look like a series of houses, rather than one long building, and the applicants have agreed to revise the landscaping of the site - which will include looking at the amount of plants and trees - following some concerns.

When the Whitbread plans were put before councillors at their meeting last Thursday (September 6), Nicola Stinson, head of planning services at Kerrier council, told them: "What we need to look at is the principle for the development. Is there a need for this scale of development? Is it an accessible site? We have had to look very carefully at the impact of the development."

After weighing this up, planning officers had recommended that the council approve the application.

Before making a decision, however, members debated the pros and cons of the application.

Councillor Danny Keay, who represents the Helston south ward, said: "I supported this originally and I support it again today. There's no reason to withhold permission. I think it would be good for Helston."

Councillor Sue Swift, for Helston north, believed that Whitbread should be congratulated for its work.

"The way it looks now will fit really well into all the houses that are opposite it and around it. Bearing in mind it is actually on the bypass, it is going to be in quite a prominent position as you go through," she said.

Mrs Swift continued: "Our town is growing. We have got to be mindful of the community but also look to the future. What I am concerned about is - and this keeps coming up time and time again - this concern of going from 30 bedrooms to 50. The other businesses in the town are concerned that it could have a detrimental effect on themselves. I would ask, are the officers absolutely sure that this would have no detrimental effect?"

She then referred to results of the consultation process, which included a report that the site was within Anciently Enclosed Land with a high potential for survival of history and archaeological features. It had been recommended that before any development of the land, archaeological recordings be taken first.

Mrs Swift agreed: "There are a lot of things up there that could be of great interest. I would hate for us to just build over it and it be lost."

Councillor Neil Plummer, for the Stithians ward, said: "In principle it's great for Helston and what's good for Helston is good for Kerrier and the Lizard as well." He added that it would provide competition for the Travel Inns already sited at Hayle and Carnon Downs.

A vote was then taken, in which members unanimously agreed to give conditional approval to the application, with one of the conditions being that no development take place on the site until a programme of archaeological work had been carried out.