PLACING shepherds huts for glamping breaks on a field near Lostwithiel would harm the character of the local area, says Cornwall Council.

The local authority has refused a planning application submitted by the Yates family of Polscoe Road, who wished to install three such huts on their land.

Mark Yates and his wife hope to extend their B+B business to offer short breaks and photography courses. Mr Yates is a wildlife cameraman and filmmaker who has worked on series such as the BBC’s Spring Watch and Autumn Watch.

The Yates said that their aim was to develop a low-impact business. They said that the 27 foot long huts would be mobile and towable, and would be largely invisible from outside their property.

Lostwithiel Town Council had given its support to the scheme.

But Cornwall Council planning officer John Rudge said that the introduction of shepherds huts on the site ‘would result in harm to the intrinsic character of the surrounding rural setting within an Area of Great Landscape Value’.