The Red Lion pub’s proposal to build eight flats in Vicarage Road will be debated by Watford Borough Council.

At a development management meeting on July 27, councillors will decide whether to approve the plans that were refused earlier this year.

The iconic pub first applied for planning permission in March 2015, but the proposal was rejected in April this year. The pub re-submitted the application, with amendments, on May 25.

People living in Vicarage Road and Oxford Street have been consulted about the new application and every household has rejected the proposal.

Residents and councillors representing the area strongly oppose the plans saying they will have a negative impact on trees and greenery in the area.

They also fear the flats will cause a loss of light and make parking worse.

Watford Borough councillor Mo Mills, who represents Vicarage, said: “I don’t want these flats there at all, unless they provide parking.

“The road is already busy – we could maybe handle four or six flats with parking, but not eight.

“And it’s also a conservation area. The people in the area really don’t want this development - it will definitely block out all their sunshine.”

To address people’s concerns, the original “contemporary design” of the flats has been amended.

Councillor Mills said the changes have "not gone down well” with people in the area.

In order to have a more “traditional appearance”, the flats would have pitched roofs rather than flat ones.

However, the roofs will make the buildings 1.65m taller than they were initially going to be, and residents have said this will deprive them of even more sunlight.

There would also be a reduced number of front entrance doors and an enlargement of ground floor windows.

Helen Cuthbert, from Planning Potential, speaking on behalf of the Red Lion Pub, said: “The application we submitted in January was recommended for approval by council officers, but the Development Management Committee members chose to refuse it because of concerns about the scheme design.

“Members did not raise any objections to the principle of developing the long-disused site and they suggested that we might like to reconsider the design of the scheme because it was felt that a more traditional design would be appropriate.

"The architect therefore prepared an alternative scheme design, which we hope will address the concerns raised by members previously.”

We will be bringing you live coverage of the planning meeting on Wednesday night.