AN "OVERPOWERING" pair of four-metre-high signs outside a Kendal hotel has fallen foul of planners.

The contemporary-style totems outside Stonecross Manor Hotel, at Milnthorpe Road, were put up in August/September 2017 without planning approval in place. A new sign was also placed above the hotel's front door, lit by a traditional lantern.

H&M Hotels, of Liverpool, sought retrospective planning consent for the three new signs from South Lakeland District Council. Planners decided the sign above the door was "acceptable" and could stay. But they described the internally-lit totem signs as "visually intrusive and highly visible" and out of keeping with the traditional three-storey facade of the former manor house and orphanage.

Kendal Town Council expressed concerns about the lit-up totems and recommended refusal.

Meanwhile, Kendal Civic Society told planners it was "unhappy with the very large size" of the signs at the southern entrance to Kendal, stating: "We appreciate the need to advertise but these signs are overpowering."

H&M Hotels has been told it has eight weeks to appeal against the decision.