Plans to build a 58 room hotel above the Walnut Tree pub in Leytonstone have been recommended for approval.

Redway Investment Ltd has applied to build an extension to the second floor of the High Road building, along with an additional third floor and a three storey side extension.

It is understood that the pub, part of the JD Wetherspoon chain, would remain open if the hotel plans were granted permission.

Waltham Forest Council cabinet members Cllr Clyde Loakes and Cllr Marie Pye have objected, saying there is no need for a hotel in Leytonstone and that its proposed size is unsuitable.

One resident also raised concerns about the size and lack of parking provision, while another objected citing concerns it could disrupt access to the pub.

However the objections have been dismissed by council planning officers in a report.

It states: "The proposal is in principle acceptable, as it would result in the regeneration of a prominent site within the District Shopping Centre.

"The development would not only bring into use the vacant upper floors of the building, but would also improve the visual setting of the site along the Gainsborough Road street scene frontage, to the positive benefit of the Leytonstone Town Centre [sic]."

They have recommended the plans be approved, on condition that the developers pay a series of section 106 grants to help mitigate the impact of the plans on the wider community.

These would include £3,000 for a travel plan and road improvements, £15,000 towards the "regeneration of the town centre", an "Air Quality Contribution" of £13,880 and £1,625 for new street trees.

The plans will be discussed and decided on at a planning meeting on Tuesday April 30.