Residents of two terraces overlooking Falmouth harbour have launched a last minute appeal to Cornwall Council to refuse a "wholly inappropriate" planning application which they say could spoil the conservation area.

A group from Harbour Terrace and Erisey Terrace are objecting to revised plans to extend Gwel an Porth which sits below Harbour Terrace, claiming it would ruin the setting of the Victorian setting of the streets as the only building to rise above a parapet wall, and would lead to increased risk of landslips into houses on High Street below.

Neighbours are also concerned that the building could set a precedent for more buildings in the area, including a potential student house near to Gwel an Porth.

Falmouth Town Council has objected to the plans, but the residents fear that Cornwall Council planning officers will approve them without even consulting their own councillors.

In an open letter to Cornwall Council's principal development officer, Jeremy Content, town councillors Mathew McCarthy and Oliver Cramp have pleaded that the decision be reconsidered, or referred to the local area planning committee.

They wrote of the residents' "spirited defence of their community in the face of a wholly inappropriate development application," stating that "one of the most scenic and historic parts of Falmouth would be changed irredeemably for the worse," while "setting a very regrettable precedent in the process."

They also wrote: "We are now told that Cornwall Council’s planning department are preparing to ride roughshod over Falmouth and approve the application anyway.

"This is unacceptable, disrespectful and downright insulting to the people of Falmouth who have made their opinion on the matter incredibly clear. We ask you to seriously reconsider your position regarding this development, and at the very least allow the application to face the scrutiny of the full committee, rather than allowing it to be nodded through as you currently plan to."

Andrew Campbell, who lives opposite the planned development, outlined the main objections.

He pointed out that the house was originally built with the highest point of the parapet wall as a reference point, meaning it already jutted out higher than it should due to the slope of the road, and that permission was given for a bungalow, so a first floor extension should not be allowed.

He added: "You only have to look... to see how little ground there is and how it's above the High Street to realise the risk of further land slips: because there have been little land slips.

"The appalling factor is that the Cornwall planners just seem to have made their minds up before this fourth application has even closed for objections."

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: "Planning application PA16/01891 remains under consideration and the decision whether to determine the application at Planning Committee will be made later this week."