THE operators of a popular New Forest motorcycle museum admitted they were "extremely disappointed" plans for an extension were turned down.

As reported by the Daily Echo, New Forest District Council planners threw out the proposals to increase the size of Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum in New Milton.

The refusal of the two storey extension followed criticisms about the size of scheme and the “poor design” of the project.

A spokesman for the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Trust, which run the museum, said: “The trust is accepted as one of the leading motorcycle museums in the world and a major attraction to the New Forest.

“People come from all over the world to combine a visit to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, and our complex in New Milton.

"Our application was to provide more display areas for technical, engineering, sectional engine displays and motorcycles, which are not only for our visitors to enjoy but for students studying engineering.

“We urgently need more library and archive storage and cataloguing facilities, which this extensions would have provided.”