Campaigners battling a 'gruesome' hotel are celebrating after the government halted the controversial Hammersmith development.
Hazel Blears, secretary of state for communities and local government, has announced an inquiry into Hammersmith and Fulham Council's decision to grant planning permission for a 10-storey hotel in Hammersmith Road.
Despite receiving more than 70 objections from residents who said it would overshadow their homes and cause traffic chaos, the borough gave developers the green light in September.
The inquiry will now consider whether the size and design of the building is suitable for the conservation area.
David Morton of Argyll Mansions, Hammersmith Road, wrote to Mrs Blears calling for the inquiry.
He said: "It is a great result. We were delighted the secretary of state seems to have taken our points of view into account, which is more than you can say for Hammersmith and Fulham Council."
Rome Godwin, also of Argyll Mansions, said she was 'thrilled to bits'.
She added: "The building had a gruesome appearance and would have been built almost right next to the street. It would have towered right over us."
Her neighbour Brian Raffan said: "Given that this development is in a conservation area, why is the council happy with the dreadful design of this building?"
Acton, Ealing and Shepherd's Bush MP Andy Slaughter also appealed for an inquiry. He said: "It is a very rare event for this government to call developments in for inquiries, so I am delighted with this decision.
"The hotel overlooks hundreds of homes and would dominate the conservation area.
"No adequate proposals had been made for dealing with additional traffic and the design was appalling."
In August, Mrs Blears temporarily stopped the development of a White City health centre while considering whether an inquiry was needed.
Council leader Stephen Greenhalgh said: "Only 150 applications across England and Wales are called in per year, so two from the same borough in just over the same number of months seems distinctly odd.
"I just hope the secretary of state sees sense and realises that the delay this will cause is not helping the economy, people or the borough as a whole."
A spokesman for developers Earls Court/Olympia Group and Sunlight Projects said the decision to hold an inquiry was 'disappointing'.
It will take between 12 to 18 months for the investigation to be completed.
