Just as anti-development campaigners in Cornwall were reeling from a failed attempt to get Carlyon Bay protected by claiming it was essentially a village green, It appears they may be getting a serendipitous stay in the controversial project.

The developer of the on-beach holiday complex, Ampersand, has stopped all sales and sent back deposits to buyers while it reconsiders its position.

Carlyon Bay in south Cornwall, has been at the centre of a fierce conservation battle ever since the developer Ampersand announced it would use an old planning consent to construct 511 flats, hotels and restaurants.

The local residents erupted with fury as the beach, which they all thought would be cleared of a previous small holiday centre, actually became the focus for a far vaster 'despoilment' to the beach and coastline.

A string of planning arguments which reached as far as the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have still not resolved the myriad of issues the villagers turned up, but work has now virtually stopped on the site.

With potential issues still to be raised during 2005 the developer appears to have called a halt to the flow of cash crashing into the sea.

“We’ve returned the original deposits from buyers with 5% interest but we have no date for sales to resume," said Ampersand. "There are still planning applications outstanding for work on sea defences but we don’t yet know the exact shape of the development.”

Carlyon Bay Watch, the local objectors’ group, welcomed the news but said it would continue to oppose the plans until they were formally scrapped or scaled down to “25% or less” of what Ampersand proposed.

Meanwhile the unfinished development on the beach continues to remain an eyesore with the whole beach in a mess.