Plans to partially demolish a South Wimbledon pub which has been closed for a decade have been rejected and labelled as "intrusive and overbearing."

A planning application was submitted in March this year to add an extra eight flats on top of the pub, while retaining the bottom half of the building.

But last week those plans were rejected by Merton Council.

In citing the reason for rejecting the idea, the planning inspector wrote that the "proposal would be excessive in terms of height, bulk and massing and would have an overbearing impact on the Haydon's Road street scene and surrounding area.

"The proposal would be visually intrusive and overbearing."

The inspector also wrote that the proposed flats would not meet a satisfactory standard of living.