PLANS to add an extra 34 rooms to an Edenbridge care home have been turned down – marking a victory for residents who were opposed to the extension.

But the Abbeyfield Kent Society, the charity which owns Stangrove Lodge, has said it is still keen to continue with the expansion and will be resubmitting its application.

Council planning officers rejected the plan to increase the home's size with a single-storey extension, saying it would be overbearing and unneighbourly and result in overlooking and a loss of privacy.

The planning officer also said the proposals failed to provide enough parking, which would be unsafe and cause vehicles to overspill into surrounding roads.

Laurence Fowler-Stevens, Abbeyfield's head of performance and governance, told the Courier the charity would be "tweaking" the plans before resubmitting them to Sevenoaks District Council, rather than appealing against the refusal.

"We will go as far as we can to address those objections without compromising what we're trying to achieve," he said. "We're taking a practical view."

The new rooms were set to be built on a ground-floor extension, plans for which were passed earlier this month.

The ground-floor extension will add nine rooms to Stangrove and Mr Fowler-Stevens said the refusal of the second phase of development would not affect this work.

He added: "The two are not linked. Phase two will not impinge on phase one."

Residents in neighbouring roads have strongly objected to both sets of plans, and are now gearing themselves up for the next planning battle.

Alan Pallot, from Manor House Gardens, said: "We have got our game plan ready for round two."