PLANS to build a seven-storey hotel next to a listed building in Colchester have been described as “ludicrous”.

Premier Inn wants to convert the former Royal Mail depot, in St Peter’s Street, into a 117-bed hotel.

The site is next to Trudie Gordon’s Grade II-listed home, Middle Mill Cottage, and overlooks Castle Park.

Miss Gordon, 52, said: “I thought it was a joke when I heard about these plans. The size of the hotel absolutely stunned me. This is a residential area and is not the right place for development on this scale, with the traffic and noise it will generate.

“This huge building will just loom over us on the other side of the garden wall and it will ruin the setting of the park.”

Miss Gordon raised concerns about the extra traffic using St Peter’s Street and questioned whether the proposed 40 parking spaces for hotel users were sufficient.

The Dutch Quarter Residents’ Association has collected 50 signatures on a petition, and several objections have already been posted on Colchester Council’s website.

Miss Gordon, a medical secretary, said: “No one is opposed to redevelopment of the site, which is becoming an eyesore, but it has to be sympathetic.

“More townhouses or a small hotel would be in keeping with the area, but this is just far too much.”

Colchester Council is expected to make a decision on the proposals by Easter.