THE refusal of plans for a Costa Coffee drive-thru on the site of a fire-ravaged Flintshire hotel has been welcomed.

A fire tore through the 40-bedroom Gateway To Wales hotel, which sits just off the A494, in December 2017.

Plans for the Costa Coffee were turned down recently after they were described as “insufficient.”

Sealand Councillor Christine Jones said she felt the decision had been the right one.

"To be honest, it was a bit ambitious considering the access," she said.

"It would have been extremely busy coming off the main highway, coming up to a roundabout.

"It was a bit too much of a risk, I thought - and it would have had traffic backing up.

"When the plans went in, residents were 50/50 - they said wonderful, but not there.

"I don't think I heard one person say that was the perfect place for something like that."

Speaking of the site itself, she added: "It's been derelict for so long.

"We definitely do need to regenerate it and have something there - but not houses. "I'd have loved another hotel there.

"We do miss it because it was a social part of Sealand and it created jobs as well."

In a report, planning officer Katie Jones said: “It is accepted that the proposed re-development is unlikely to have a significant impact on the local highway network, however, the capacity and safe operation of the access to the site have not been considered."