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Pub giant JD Wetherspoon is taking on Preston Council over its refusal to allow a bigger beer garden in front of the Grey Friar tavern.

The company has lodged an appeal after Town Hall chiefs threw out its plans for a 78-seater area right next to a busy junction which is at the heart of a £14.7m regeneration scheme.

Planning officers say the seating area, behind glazed steel barriers, is "poorly designed."

And Wetherspoons are challenging the opinion that it would be a "visually intrusive permanent barrier in a prominent position within the local street scene."

How the new beer garden would look if the appeal is successful (Image: Harrison Ince Architects).

The council says it "would contribute to the visual clutter within the public realm and see the loss of existing landscaping, thereby worsening the appearance of the immediate area."

New beer garden plans at The Grey Friar pub in Preston city centre knocked back

The pub already has a temporary seating area with four tables and 14 seats which are put away overnight. That has been in use for the past 11 years.

One of the major issues with the company's latest plan is the removal of established shrubs in front of the venue - the only "notable landscaping measures" currently in place on the northern section of Friargate.

The Grey Friar has had a 'temporary' outdoor seating area for 11 years.

The council feels the proposed street furniture “has not been carefully designed.

"And whilst it is appreciated that the proposed barrier is to be glazed so as not act as a solid visual barrier to the seating area, due its size it would appear that the proposal has prioritised the creation of a sheltered outdoor seating area above creating a development that would be more cohesive with the neighbouring street scene.

"It is considered the proposal would represent a noticeable material change in the nature of the outdoor seating area currently present on site.

“It would lead the seating area to become a permanent fixture within the street scene, unlike the existing barriers on site which can be easily packed away.

"Furthermore, the height of the proposal at 1.2m would be taller than the waist high barriers currently present on site and their impact would only be made more noticeable and severe by the prominent and highly visible corner location the application site occupies."

Wetherspoons have responded to the concerns over removal of shrubs by saying new greenery will be planted in boxes around the edge of the seating area to compensate for the loss.

Pub giant takes on Preston Council over refusal of city centre beer garden