A new McDonald’s restaurant would spill onto a former graveyard where some burials are still in place underground, experts have warned.

The development land in Dover is next to church ruins and has already proved controversial with the fast food chain even calling on the community to support its proposals.

But heritage experts, in a report to planning officials at Dover District Council, said: “The decision to locate the restaurant building adjacent to the church is poorly conceived and lacks consideration of the adjacent heritage assets.

“The restaurant is partly located on the site of the former graveyard.

“It is understood that while the graveyard was cleared, some of the graves remain below ground.”

The objection from the organisation Historic Buildings and Places (HBP) is over plans by the company to build a drive-thru restaurant at the corner of Townwall Street and Woolcomber Street, next to the former St James’ Church in Dover.

HBP, consultees for listed building consent applications, said on the authority’s planning portal: “Given the historic graveyard use, this part of the site has never been developed. It would be highly inappropriate to build a restaurant in this area.

“While the principle of redevelopment is accepted, what is proposed is inappropriate in terms of use, design and location and is detrimental to the setting and historic interest of the Dover Castle Conservation Area.

“More specifically, it is harmful to the setting of St James’ Church and its significance as a town memorial to the shelling and destruction of Dover during the [Second World] war.”

The now-deconsecrated graveyard was officially closed in the 19th century.

An archaeology and heritage assessment by the Environmental Dimension Partnership was carried out on behalf of the applicants.

It said the churchyard had been excavated in 1973 to make way for the car park currently on the site.

But it added: “Only minimal archaeological investigation took place. The graveyard had been officially closed since 1855 due to it being at full capacity.”

The fast food giant has put in a planning application to build a 118-seater restaurant with 55 parking spaces including 10 for electric car charging.

The application has brought a huge response from the public with more than 500 comments on the planning portal at the time of publication.

About six out of 10 are against the application but the rest are in support.

Opponents fear traffic problems and have complained of the restaurant’s closeness to the Grade II-listed church ruins, saying it would blight the area

Those for it say it would create much-needed jobs and ease pressure on the heavily-demanded Whitfield restaurant.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

Following a mass of comments against the scheme McDonald’s highlighted its argument for it on its Facebook page.

It said the site would create 120 jobs and generate between £50,000 and £60,000 in business rates per year "to help the council fund key local services”.

It added the new restaurant would also "alleviate pressures on surrounding McDonald's which are currently overtrading”.

Dover has been without a branch of the burger chain since 2017, with the closest outlets currently in Whitfield and Folkestone and another in Sandwich.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “We are excited about the opportunity to open a new restaurant in Dover and look forward to continuing our discussions with the council and local residents to address any concerns.”

St James’ Church was originally built in the 11th century and restored in the 19th century. It was badly damaged by German bombing in the Second World War.

It was closed after the damaged tower collapsed in 1950 and the building’s remains were then made safe and preserved.

The new restaurant is to replace the former Dover Leisure Centre site, which was opened in January 1976, closed in February 2019 and demolished in March 2020 just before the first Covid-19 lockdown.

It was replaced by the new Dover District Leisure Centre in Whitfield.

Half a mile away from the proposed McDonald’s site, a new Costa Coffee drive-thru building is nearing completion.

The development along the A20 Snargate Street is expected to open in September.