Councillors have rejected plans to turn the Old Royal High School building in Edinburgh into a luxury hotel.

Developers had proposed turning the A-listed building on Calton Hill into a 127-room hotel.

Edinburgh City Council's development management sub-committee unanimously voted against the plans on Thursday.

Council planning officers had earlier recommended the application from Duddingston House Properties and Urbanist Group be turned down.

They said it would cause "very significant harm to the built heritage and landscape of the city."

A rival plan to turn the building into a music school has been approved in principle but developers behind it currently have no rights to the building.

The report from council planning officers said: "The former Royal High School is an architectural masterpiece and one of the most significant buildings in Scotland.

"The proposed wings would have a significant adverse impact on the composition, integrity and special character of the listed building.

"The benefits to the city's economy and to tourism through bringing an 'at-risk' building back into a sustainable long-term use are not outweighed by the very significant harm to the built heritage and landscape of the city.

"The development would cause permanent and irreversible damage."

Construction of the luxury hotel would involve demolishing parts of the existing building and creating new wings for rooms.

The developers had submitted the scaled-down proposals after an initial £75m plan for a 147-bedroom hotel was turned down in 2015.

They argued the revised plans respected the site's historic status and would breathe new life into the Calton Hill area.

Edinburgh City Council owns the 19th century building but it has been leased long-term to the developers.

Councillor Lewis Ritchie, planning convener for the council, said: "Both sides of the proposal were heard today and Councillors thoroughly examined the issues presented to them.

"However the Planning Committee decided that the application did not meet the high standard required for one of Edinburgh's most iconic buildings and voted unanimously to refuse it.

"The developer now has the right to appeal this decision."

David Orr, Urbanist Hotels chairman, said: "We are naturally disappointed although not especially surprised that Councillors have taken the decision not to approve our proposals.

"It is especially disappointing and worrying that this decision was made amidst a backdrop of wilful misrepresentation and misleading campaigning by Edinburgh World Heritage and the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland.

"Despite this concerted and very public campaign against our proposals, we will continue to fulfil our contractual obligation with the Council to revive a building which has been allowed to slip into a state of disrepair and neglect for more than 50 years."