ABERYSTWYTH’S main shopping street should be protected for retail stores and isn’t the right location for a late-night cafe and bar, planning officers have said.

A national chain is hoping to convert two major high street shops in Great Darkgate Street into a licensed cafe and bar, saying it would create jobs and provide greater eating and drinking options in the town centre.

Loungers Limited had initially agreed a deal to move into a unit at the Old Welsh School, but pulled out of that agreement and instead lodged plans to convert the Burton Menswear and Dorothy Perkins stores into a cafe bar.

However, those plans are being recommended for refusal ahead of a Ceredigion Council development control committee due to be held tomorrow (Wednesday, 8 January).

A report by planning officers said the application to turn the Great Darkgate stores from A1 usage to A3 should be rejected, saying that it would weaken the retail facilities in the area, that proposals to alter the frontages were unsuitable and that it could cause nuisance and issues for nearby residents.

The report says: "This location is not considered as appropriate for an A3 use as it will interrupt trading on the main retail street in Aberystwyth.

"No evidence has been provided that the current A1 use is not viable in this location.

"There are more suitable alternative sites to locate this use within the Aberystwyth Urban Service Centre.

"There is also a concern that A3 use in this location will cause disruption and adversely affect the amenity.

"The design of the frontage is unacceptable in the context of the conservation area and the alterations would have an adverse effect on the character of a listed building.

"The local authority is also unhappy about a large area of the first floor which is currently being used for retail being partitioned off and not used."

While the council has admitted that a target of 75 per cent of all premises on Great Darkgate Street should be for retail purposes would still be met, it said that there are better locations for the proposed Loungers cafe bar, with councillors now being asked to decide on the application at the committee meeting.

Aberystwyth Town Council had objected to the application, insisting that Loungers should proceed with the initial plan to move into the Old Welsh School development, despite the development still not being open.