A PROPOSED expansion of youth hostel accommodation at Bellever has been thrown out following a chorus of opposition to the potentially dramatic increase in guests and traffic.

At the Dartmoor National Park Authority planning committee meeting, last Friday, members rejected the recommendation of a site inspection and dismissed the proposals outright.

Members backed local people's concerns that the Youth Hostels Association's planned conversion of large barns adjoining the present site into further accommodation units would result in increased traffic and greater noise disturbance, ruining the peace and quiet of the area.

The Dartmoor hostel currently hosts 6,000 visitors each year, but opponents said the proposal, which included a new car parking area would have changed the premises into a hotel more than a hostel.

Another bone of contention was the adverse effect the proposal could have on local hoteliers.

The Dartmoor Preservation Society and the Open Spaces Society both highlighted the barns considerable interest as examples of traditional Dartmoor architecture.

Dartmoor NPA Officer Colin Jarvis said: 'The councillors were concerned about the scale of the proposals and the traffic and that together they would have a detrimental effect.'