Plans to build a “gruesome” block of flats on a pleasant Watford street have been unceremoniously thrown out by a planning committee.

Developers had hoped to win approval to convert two semi-detached houses in Essex Road into a block of eight flats.

The unpopular plans also included a proposal to build a separate block of flats – containing a further ten apartments – on the same plot on land.

However, the developer won no favours from Watford Borough Council's development control committee last night, with one member describing the application as “gruesome”.

Speaking against the proposal, local representative, Councillor Mark Watkin, also rounded on the developer, saying the new building looked like “a prison”.

Speaking emphatically against the proposal, he warned anyone who would have eventually lived in the proposed building risked a “Troglodyte existence”.

He told the committee: “It is actually a lovely road and this would be an absolute carbuncle on the back of it.

“It really is a selfish building – it takes no regard for the nature of the road it is in.”

Faced with widespread opposition from local residents, the architect behind the plan, Alan Ward, had asked the committee to defer a decision on the application.

He said the developer, Michael Meldrum, required more time to consult with residents and complete a number of statutory obligations.

However, the committee rejected his plea and unanimously turned down the proposal, saying it emphatically did not fit in with the local conservation area.

Councillor Steve Rackett said: “There is just a lack of understanding of what the needs of the conservation area are.”

Councilor Iain Sharpe added: “This is simply nowhere near – it is not even on the playing field, as it were.”