Cornwall Council has refused planning permission for a scheme to house more than 260 students at the site of a former home furnishing store in Penryn.

The council's central sub-area planning committee voted this morning against plans by developers Irregular Cornwall to build a new purpose built student accommodation block out of old shipping containers behind the former Home Shed site at Kernick Road.

The plans had also included retail and other business space inside the former Home Shed building, with the option of providing a new home for the Penryn Surgery as it looks to expand.

The news will be welcomed by local traders, who have been vociferous in opposing what they see as a loss of light industrial employment space.

However, it is a blow to Penryn clilmbing gym Granite Planet, which is also threatened by plans for student accommodation at its site nearby, and had been offered a new home within the Irregular site.

A Cornwall Council spokesperson said the vote against the development was unanimous.

They said the application: "Was refused because the site is identified in the emerging Cornwall Site Allocations Development Plan Document as a safeguarded employment site and the proposed development would result in the loss of employment land to non-employment uses."

The Packet is awaiting a comment from Irregular Cornwall.