A developer has launched a fresh bid to build houses on the site of a former restaurant - after previous plans were rejected by the city council.

If given the green light, the new proposal would see 10 homes erected on the old Spice Master plot on Sturry’s Island Road.

The now-empty premises was formerly used as both a pub and an Indian restaurant - housing Westbere Butts Hotel, Spice Master and, until 2016, the Mortar and Pestle.

But it has since lain derelict, regularly targeted by vandals, thieves and fly-tippers, and attracting attention in 2017 when an encampment of travellers moved there.

In 2018, Rockhold Westbere Limited purchased the site and submitted plans to construct 13 homes on the plot, which is located between Perrys Vauxhall car dealership and a belt of green land.

But the proposal was refused by the city council, which said it lacked both affordable housing, and measures to mitigate the development’s local impact. The authority also felt the site’s “cramped” layout would be “harmful” to the area’s character and appearance.

The applicant appealed the decision, but on February 3 this year the Planning Inspectorate agreed with the council’s ruling and dismissed the appeal, although it found the site was a suitable location for residential development.

Rockhold Westbere Limited has now submitted fresh plans for the 0.33 hectare plot.

The developer says it has undertaken a “significant redesign of the proposals”, reducing the number of homes to 10, and enlarging gardens and open spaces to create a “less cramped, more spacious layout”.

It plans to demolish the former restaurant buildings to make way for the homes, along with 22 parking spaces, and green areas including small park and an allotment.

The houses - six four-beds and four two-beds - would have “simple, traditional forms”. Plans say they would feature “good quality brickwork” and “generously proportioned traditional windows to ensure a good supply of natural daylight and ventilation”.

In plans submitted to the city council, the applicant’s agent Iceni Projects says: “The regeneration of the site is overdue and its use as a residential development is entirely appropriate and consistent with its role, position and status within its setting.

“We believe that we have arrived at a scheme which responds positively to comments received and which addresses the major issues of a previously developed site.

“It is considered that the new dwellings have a sound design base and will fulfil a well-established local need for family housing.”

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