PLANS to extend one of the Lake District's biggest outdoor equipment shops close to Ambleside's historic Market Cross have been attacked.

Gaynor Sports - already the town's largest retailer of walking and camping gear - wants to redevelop and extend its second premises on the ground floor of the Salutation Hotel.

But Ambleside Civic Society says the plans will harm the character of the area and have lodged a strong objection to the scheme.

The shop occupies a prominent and elevated position on a grassy bank next to the Market Cross and opposite the main Gaynor Sports store.

The applicants said the shop suffered because of poor access and visibility from the street and as a result there had been a lack of investment and the building had deteriorated.

Now the company is seeking planning permission to dig out the bank and create a two-storey shop joined to the existing shop at the first floor, with an entrance at street level.

The firm said the changes would make the store more commercially successful, more attractive and more in keeping with the character of the town centre.

However, a letter from Ambleside Civic Society chairman Bryan Sparrow said the development would be an "unwelcome, dominating feature" and would detract from the open character of the area around the Market Cross.

Mr Sparrow said the site was the only green space in a largely built-up area and had, until recent "unsympathetic" pruning, been a "green counterpoise to the surrounding buildings".

He added that, with 17 outdoor shops in the town and a number of recent failures of similar businesses, the new shop may not be viable and could also fall into disrepair.

Lake District National Park Authority planning officer Rachel Nutman told the development control committee that it was a "very important" application which raised issues of scale, design and massing as well as the impact on the conservation area.

She added that, while the scheme's design had "much to commend it," the new shop would encroach on the open space around the Market Cross.

In view of the importance of the scheme, she recommended that the committee defer the application to visit the site and members agreed.