Plans to block a student development by Falmouth Docks by having part of the site registered as a listed building have been scuppered after Historic England refused the application.

However the woman behind the scheme has not given up all hope, and is now calling on Falmouth residents to pass on any documentary evidence of the existence of an underground bunker at the Ocean Bowl site in the hopes she may persuade the organisation to reconsider the case.

Last week Deborah Irvine submitted her application to have the stone and red brick bunker, which has been filled in and lies under land proposed for a 275-bed student block, recognised as listed because she believes it could be an important part of the town's 19th century history.

But since being told that it will not be considered due to lack of evidence, she is renewing calls for people to come forward with photos of the bunker as it used to look.

Deborah, who knows that locals used to play in the bunker before it was sealed, said: "I have even more reason to ask for help from locals regarding the bunker."

She added: "Hoping someone can solve this mystery, but meanwhile, I will now be researching the submarine pier where Royal Engineers defended the harbour."

Responding to the listing request, Simon Hickman, Historic England's principal inspector of historic buildings and areas in the south west, said: "Although there are suggestions that the structure may have either been a Victorian ammunition store or that it was built by the Great Western Railway as part of their station at Falmouth Docks, the evidence we have seen shows that it is mainly built in brick and concrete and appears to have been built in the 20th century.

"We are therefore not recommending the structure for listing on the basis that there is a lack of evidence to confirm its original function."

Historic England has, however, objected to the Ocean Bowl development on the Cornwall Council planning website, and Mr Hickman called the block "monolithic in form," and said it did "not respond well to the historic townscape character of Falmouth" and could create "wall of development" between Pendennis Castle and the town.

He added: "While the Ocean Bowl site is, of course, a development opportunity, the design of any new buildings here should really respond rather better to the surrounding historic environment."