Objectors are calling on planners to throw out revised proposals for a Wetherspoons pub at Felixstowe – saying the new building would be too big and overbearing.

Pub giant JD Wetherspoons now wants to use the old Central Surgery site in Hamilton Road not only for a pub but also 24 flats on four storeys above the bar.

Around 20 nearby households have already sent objections to Suffolk Coastal council, along with Felixstowe Town Council and the Felixstowe Society.

Some protesters – including the town council – are asking why Wetherspoons refuses to position the pub so that it faces into the square of Great Eastern Square, which planners suggested last time, and would protect homes from extra noise.

It would also allow people sitting outside to watch any activities that might be held on the square in future.

The town council has no objection to the development in principal but is recommending refusal because a four-storey property is too big for the location, and the design is not in keeping with nearby historic buildings.

Councillors are also “extremely concerned” at the lack of affordable housing and no justification being given for the omission of social homes.

Conservation group The Felixstowe Society has objected, saying it is not in keeping with the Edwardian buildings in the area “and this block of flats will certainly not blend in” with the area of the town.

A spokesman said: “We hope others will object to this revised application.”

The flats will be one-bed and two-bed apartments with underground car parking.

One of the concerns of objectors is that there will not be enough parking in a congested area of town.

Wetherspoons said the new pub will provide 50 new jobs in “an established urban area with all the facilities to support the local community.”

In the proposals’ design brief the company said that the new building would be similar in size to the Orwell Hotel which sits opposite the site.

It said: “The scale of the proposed building equates to the overall height and massing of the adjacent Orwell Hotel.

“This is believed to be appropriate, considering the scale and prominence of the existing hotel.”