PLANS to revamp a top hotel's courtyard garden and refurbish the building’s executive lounge have been recommended for approval by council planning chiefs.

An application to make changes to the Grade II listed Grand Hotel, in York, seeks to link the new hotel restaurant, The Rise, to Station Road by building a raised walkway from the street to the bar entrance.

Planning officers have recommended the move, but a City of York Council spokesman said a date has not yet been set for a council meeting to make a final decision.

Under the plans, the courtyard would become an outdoor cafe area with booth seats installed underneath the walkway, a pergola and a bar.

Planning documents say: “With the only public street view of the new restaurant from Station Road and the City Walls, the current situation sees this area as a clear ‘block’ between the new restaurant and the passing trade of potential customers.

“As a result, people passing by the garden and restaurant are physically separated from the restaurant, making it exclusive and uninviting.”

Organisation Historic England said it was unhappy with plans to use “jumbrellas” in the garden and for artificial grass to be installed, saying they would create a “cluttered appearance” when seen from the road or from the city walls. Revised plans were submitted without the umbrellas and with paving instead of fake grass.

Council officers also said background music at the bar should be restricted and the sunken garden should only be open from 8am to 11pm. They added that no live music should be organised at the bar as an event held previously behind the Grand Hotel had caused problems for residents living nearby.

As part of the scheme the entrance to the garden from Station Road will be widened, a number of trees within the courtyard will be kept and a new drinks bar along with five undercover booths with benches and tables will be built.

The Grade II-listed five-star hotel will almost double in size in March with the opening of 100 new guest rooms.

The reception area and executive lounge inside the building are also set to be refurbished as part of the business’s £15 million expansion. The scheme includes the hotel’s new restaurant, which opened at the beginning of June 2017.

The Grand Hotel & Spa is Yorkshire’s only AA-rated five-star hotel.