MULTI-MILLION pound plans to transform the dilapidated former country mansion of a celebrated Victorian novelist into a county’s most expensive private home have been thrown out by councillors.

Father and son Bill and Steven Spry, who made their fortune in commercial property, wanted to restore the 47- room Hamsterley Hall, near Consett, County Durham, as their family home, at a cost of £6.3m.

The hall was formerly home to Robert Smith Surtees, best known for his Jorrocks stories.

Surtees, whose work about cockney grocer Jorrocks has been compared with Dickens, devoted himself to a country life of hunting and shooting when he was not writing.

However, villagers and conservationists were furious because the scheme was linked to a £40m project also involving the creation of a 60-home millionaires’ row on the 170- acre estate, included to pay for the hall’s restoration.

Yesterday, Durham County Council’s county planning committee, meeting at County Hall, in Durham, granted the Sprys consent to restore the grade II*-listed hall, but refused permission for the housing development.

Earlier, objectors had told councillors the plans were “almost robbery”, “bordering on lunacy” and “a dodgy dossier”.

The committee rejected the scheme on a near-unanimous vote, with only two councillors abstaining.

Councillor Charlie Walker said: “I can’t accept part of natural England being removed for the sake of a developer.

We have sold ourselves short for many years. Let’s not do it again.”

Afterwards, a residents’ spokesman said the decision was a triumph for common sense.

“We would like the hall preserved but we’re concerned if we’re not careful the whole countryside will be taken over.

“We are happy with the sensible decision from the committee, which is for the benefit of everyone who lives in the Derwent Valley,” he added.

However, Mr Spry Jnr said he was surprised by the vote.

“I think councillors missed the point. The public benefit is about preserving the heritage of the country, not locals walking past. I think our case is robust and they made the wrong decision.”

He said the family would study the decision and consider its options before deciding how to proceed.

Hamsterley Hall dates back to the 14th Century and has some of the country’s finest Georgian Gothic architecture.

However, it has fallen into disrepair in recent decades and English Heritage has indicated there are no grants available for its restoration.