A bid to put up a plaque to honour a campaigner who fought to save a town's heritage has been thwarted – because it was earmarked for a historic building.

The idea was to put a dedication on the Red Lion in Market Place, Leek, in recognition of Janet Broome.

She had lobbied against commercial development in the 1980s and 1990s, and in recognition of her efforts, a group of campaigners put forward plans for a blue plaque on the side of the historic pub.

But in what might be seen as an ironic twist, Staffordshire Moorlands council has turned the bid down on the basis that the building is historic, and making the alteration to it would be potentially "harmful".

And the council was backed up by Leek and Moorlands Historic Buildings Trust.

A spokesperson for the trust said it would be inappropriate to place a blue plaque on the Red Lion, and that the plaques should only commemorate significant buildings themselves or people closely linked to them – in line with other blue plaques that have been awarded around the town.

Campaigner Roger Warrilow, who was in favour of honouring Mrs Broome, said: "In the late 1980s the general public of Leek were shocked by the council to learn of the demise of the Red Lion Hotel, the tipping point for a petition coordinated by Janet Broome to save the integrity of Leek's old marketplace from a blundering attempt of a shopping mall in our ancient market town.

"Janet Broome spearheaded the campaign to save 15 listed buildings with the help of 7,700 signatures.

"She was not famous or wealthy, she just loved historic Leek and its marketplace. She deserves a blue plaque for her leadership."

A council officer, recommending the proposals for refusal, said: "We should not be approving anything which would be harmful to the significance of the asset unless there are overriding public benefits which outweighs the harm to the asset."

They said although campaigners had argued Mrs Broome was instrumental in saving the Red Lion from being knocked down, the pub was never at risk of demolition.

In addition officers said the building's history wasn't closely linked with Mrs Broome, and as a result felt it would not be a suitable location for a plaque.

 Cllr Bill Cawley said the number of signatures on the petition Mrs Broome raised in the 1980s was impressive, given it was achieved in an era before social media.

He said: "The 1980s was a period of tastelessness and extremists.

"The shopping centre could therefore be placed with the Sinclair 5, the mullet hairstyle and the hits of Stock, Aitken and Waterman as a mark of tattiness.

"We were therefore – in the words of a Stock, Aitken and Waterman song from 1987 – lucky, lucky, lucky to have the energy of Janet Broome and others to thwart disaster."

But planning committee chair Cllr Stephen Ellis was unconvinced, saying: "Having a plaque to somebody who saved something that it wasn't threatened from, seems a little ridiculous.

"You can't save something that it was never threatened from."

He said that while Janet Broome's efforts were commendable, he hadn't been sufficiently convinced the Red Lion itself had specifically been saved by her campaigning.

Cllr Keith Flunder said: "I'd be happy to look at other places, to see what we can do elsewhere.

"From my perspective, the whole idea of the history of Leek and how it's been preserved is something that's well worth looking into."