PLANS to extend the holiday season at a caravan have been given the thumbs down by a council.

Barrow Council refused plans to allow a year round season at South End Caravan Park on Walney.

The decision was made by council officers after plans were submitted by caravan park bosses.

The request to extend the season is part of a plan to have more static caravans on the site on a more permanent basis.

The site is only open for holidaymakers between Easter and November 14, and the proposal was aimed at extending the season to meet the growing demand from customers to provide year-round holidays.

A statement making up the plans said: “This application is to allow a twelve month holiday season over the whole of South End Caravan Park.

“This will allow the site owners to offer choice and meet the changing demands of its customers who wish to stay on the site and use local facilities all year round.

“This caravan park is an asset to the local economy and can help support many complementary businesses within the locality.

“The park wants to offer customers a longer holiday season so they can visit the area throughout the year, allowing it to compete for business with other caravan parks already offering a twelve month season in other areas of Cumbria.

“Conditions restricting the duration of stay on caravan parks have been deleted from many planning permissions across the country in recent years.

“The conditions are unduly restrictive and hold back businesses from trading to their full potential.”

The plans added that extending the holiday season would allow the site to continue to ‘meet the demands of customers’.

According to the council, a pervious proposal to change the use of the site from 80 touring caravans to a site for 50 static and 30 touring caravans was given the green light.

However the latest plans were rejected because they went against habitat regulations as well as policies include in its local plan.