A parish council has objected to plans for a major expansion to a popular Lake District hotel.

Colton Parish Council is objecting to the plans by The Swan Hotel at Newby Bridge due to concerns over access while proposed work is undertaken on the three-storey extension.

The hotel wants to create a new wing to house a swimming pool, spa and 26 hotel rooms. A planning application – which also includes car parking and landscaping – has been lodged with the Lake District National Park Authority. 

While Colton Parish Council says it is not opposed to the actual expansion of the hotel, it believes its plans do not acknowledge the traffic and parking issues construction will cause.

Matt Brereton, councillor for High Furness, who attended the meeting, said: “The parish council is not in opposition to the plan, but they are concerned about the planning and parking issues.

"The hotel needed to acknowledge these issues, but they didn’t.

“On that road, all it takes is for a few cars to be parked in the wrong place to cause an issue. It would be nicer of them to engage with the community on this.”

The site is situated in a location that benefits from good access to the local and strategic highway network via the A590.

Highways England has suggested that the extension would not cause problems for the A590.

A spokesman for Highways England said: “We haven’t been consulted but we’ve looked at the proposals and the trip numbers it is generating wouldn’t be a concern for us.

“The hotel isn’t accessed directly from the A590 either so we wouldn’t have concerns with safety as a direct result of these proposals.”

The planning application reads: “There is a regular bus service accessible from bus stops within approximately 100-150 metres walking distance from the hotel and therefore this is a viable method of sustainable travel to and from the site for staff and visitors.

“The review of road safety shows that there are no accident blackspots on the local highway network, neither is there a trend of causation factors that can be attributed to the layout of the local highway network.”

There is currently a consultation period in place for members of the public to raise their concerns, which ends on Thursday, January 30.