Plans for a major motorway service station have been dismissed by a government agency.

The Planning Inspectorate has rejected an appeal for services on the M25 between junction 16 for the M40 and junction 17 for Maple Cross.

It comes after seperate plans for a M25 service station near Kings Langley were refused by Three Rivers District Council earlier this year.

The latest scheme, near Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire, included a 100-bed hotel, and a new bridge crossing the M25.

A 42-hectare area outside the site was also planned for 'recreation and leisure activities'.

The application, first submitted in July 2019, was appealed in March on grounds of non-determination, but the Planning Inspectorate found the scheme would create "substantial harm" to the green belt and "significant harm" to the character and appearance of the area.

The inspector indicated services at a third mooted location - Iver Heath - would cause "considerably less harm".

Service station operators say there is a need for a new services along the western stretch of the M25.

Watford Observer: CGI of the Moto service station scheme which included a new roundabout on the A41, circledCGI of the Moto service station scheme which included a new roundabout on the A41, circled

But Moto's plans for a service station on the A41 near junction 20 for Kings Langley were knocked back by Three Rivers District Council in June, with councillors concerned about extra traffic, adding it as "inappropriate development in the green belt".

The scheme had drawn more than 1,600 ojections from the public.

Related: M25 Moto service station plan turned down by council