Controversial plans to squeeze more flats with “small and cramped bedrooms” on the site of a demolished pub have been refused.

Revised proposals to erect a ground floor café and new homes on land previously occupied by the former Wheatsheaf pub in Swanscombe High Street were slammed by Dartford council.

The decision comes after developers submitted a new planning application in June for almost twice the number of properties it had first suggested.

The plans were accused of offering “small and cramped bedrooms” as well as a lack of private amenity space for six out of the 12 flats. The original plans had been for seven homes and a café.

By proposing only to create one-bed flats the applicant was also accused of failing to provide “a suitable housing mix to meet the current and future needs of Swanscombe or the wider borough” claiming there was no identified need for one bedroom specialist units in the area.

The application had been met with huge opposition from residents who had voiced concern over the plans due to the lack of allocated parking.

Resident Annette Livie, who lives in neighbouring Stanhope Road, told KentOnline at the time: “It’s a bad idea.

“It will just cause more traffic problems due to the lack of parking.

“We are stretched as it is trying to find parking spaces where we live due to cars parked on the road getting damaged because of the extra traffic caused by the landslide.

“There is too much over-development in this area.”

An original planning application for flats and a café was given the green light in December 2022.

They involved erecting a three-storey building to provide a ground-floor café and seven flats with 31 car parking spaces and eight cycle spaces.

People opposed to the plans at the time were concerned about the pressure on schools and doctors’ surgeries.

There were also issues raised over the use of the high street as a “rat-run” with Swanscombe and Greenhithe Town Council objecting on the basis it had “unsuitable parking” and the building was “out of character” with the area.

Demolition of the former Wheatsheaf building started last December in preparation for building work to begin.

The year before the initial seven-bed flats project was given the green light, the building had been up for sale as a pub with a 20-year lease, but it was understood the freehold was sold when a suitable takeover bid failed to materialise.

The demolition means there are now no trading pubs left on the high street with just one empty former boozer, The George and Dragon - which is subject to plans to be converted into a pizza takeway.

To see more planning applications and other public notices for your area, click here.

An outline application to knock down the former Alma pub opposite the railway station and convert it into a 13-bed house-share was approved in 2019.