A proposal to build five larger houses by a busy Herefordshire road has been knocked back – again.

Aspire Enterprises of Walsall wanted to build four four-bedroom and one three-bedroom homes in a courtyard formation at The Bannut, Bringsty on the A44 east of Bromyard.

The scheme was intended to keep to a minimum the impact on the many mature trees at the site, a former ornamental garden, while providing additional landscaping.

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The firm’s first attempt was refused in January last year for nine different reasons including being “inappropriate (in) scale, layout and appearance”, and posing “an unacceptable risk to highway safety” at the main road.

Its second try has now brought a similar response, with planning officer Emma Aram considering the amended plans were “not materially different from the previous refusal”.

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And while Aspire’s application included new reports on drainage, ecology, landscape and road access, it still “does not address the previous reasons for refusal and consultees’ objections”, she concluded.

She again listed nine reasons for refusing planning permission, ranging from the site’s location outside a settlement boundary, the harm to the landscape from the houses’ “inappropriate” size and design, which would not meet local need, the impact on nearby listed buildings, and the still inadequately addressed issue of road safety.

The Bannut gardens, which had their own tea room, were open to the public until 2016.