Work carried out on an historic Weymouth seafront property has “significantly harmed the fabric, character and historic significance of the listed building,” according to planning officers.

They have refused permission for ongoing work at the former Bond Street public toilets until a plan is drawn up to protect the remaining historic features of the property.

In a report, Dorset Council planning officers say that the majority of the lime plaster and some of the historic floorboards and fireplaces in the Grade 2 listed building have already been removed – with evidence that some walls have been rendered in concrete and then plastered.

Permission had been sought to refurbish the building including re-wiring, redecorating, replacing rotten floorboards and wooden window frames and fitting a new heating system, a new kitchen and new bathroom suites.

The former listed Westminster Bank building dates from 1883 and is described as: “a 'very vigorous interpretation of French Renaissance with Flemish Renaissance details'.”

For many years the bottom half of the building was used for public toilets with flats above, until it was sold by the former Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.

A Dorset Council report says the property, after being empty for some time, has recently changed hands with the new owner, Mrs Sylvie Shipton, now wanting to convert the building to a single residential use.

It is not clear who owned the property when unauthorised work was carried out from January last year.

Officers say the application, which they have refused, is partly retrospective: “Whilst most of the original floorboards survive, most of the interior has been stripped of all wall and ceiling finishes; only one historic fireplace survives in the living room. Some historic plasterwork to cornicing remains intact.”

They say that the planning permission request does not contain the necessary Heritage Statement or detailed plans for the work to be undertaken, other than to the heating system.

The council had already started an enforcement case for unauthorised internal works which, according to an inspection report, includes covering some walls with gypsum which is trapping damp and may need to be removed.

Original lathe and plaster also appears to have been removed, or boarded over, along with original metal fittings. The application form states that some unauthorised works started in January 2018.

A report on the current state of the building says: “The near total re-plastering of every wall and ceiling in the main body of the listed building creates a level of harm that is damaging to the fabric, character and historic interest of the building. The plasterboard ceilings create a flat hard finish which is not compatible with the otherwise C19th fabric of the building.”

In recommending refusal a planning officer suggests that the council needs to work with the new owner to rectify the situation, as much as possible, and to work together to protect the historic elements of the building: “The proposed works have largely already been undertaken and have significantly harmed the fabric, character and historic significance of the listed building, causing less than substantial harm to the structure,” said the report.