In The Good Life she epitomised the snooty, meddlesome neighbour familiar across the suburbs of Middle England. But, whereas Margot Leadbetter’s foibles were always forgiven, in real life Penelope Keith has been accused of taking her famous television character a step too far after her plans to build a café in a Highland village caused a storm of protest.

Residents in Avoch, near Inverness, have mounted a bitter attack on the actress and her husband after they decided to build a two-storey building in the middle of their village, which is in a conservation area, despite local objections.

Councillors will rule today whether to accept the proposal. They have received a petition signed by 241 villagers as well as four separate letters of objection. In a pointed reference to another of the BBC sitcoms in which Ms Keith featured, one local has even threatened to rename her house “To the Manor Blighted”.

Garth Pattison, 59, who lives opposite the site, said yesterday: “She is behaving as if she were back in The Good Life or To The Manor Born. There is a measure of arrogance and lack of respect in her attitude that suggests she played all these characters for rather too long. What she is proposing is an aesthetic disaster area with a design that is not at all in keeping with the rest of the village. It would be an absolute eyesore.”

Ms Keith, 67, and her husband, Rodney Timson, 63, are rumoured to have paid nearly £80,000 for the site, which is next to the picturesque harbour with views across the Moray Firth. The site, where a petrol station used to stand, is a triangular patch of land barely 60 sq metres (200 sq ft) and is covered in weeds and litter.

Ms Keith, who paid £60,000 in 2001 for a cottage in nearby Fortrose and occasionally takes holidays in the area, has been told by planning officials that they have recommended that the proposal be refused because it is “too harsh” and “lacks sensitivity”. However, at least two councillors have indicated that they are likely to vote in favour of the café, while others have not revealed their intentions. Despite the recommendation, locals insisted that the vote was far from a foregone conclusion.

A report submitted to councillors has raised concerns over a shortage of parking, the possibility of sewers being blocked because of increased waste, and potential contamination from its former use as a petrol station.

It also criticises the “inappropriate design”, mainly because of the size of the café. It concludes that “elements of the proposed design fall significantly short of what is required and expected for such a prominent site”. Only one local has written to the council in favour of the plan.

The report invites Ms Keith to resubmit her proposal, but such a move is likely to make her even more unpopular. An earlier application for a larger complex — including a restaurant and staff accommodation — was withdrawn after strong opposition.

Mr Timson has said that it would be unfair to portray the couple, who spend most of the year in their 17th-century house in the Surrey countryside, as the “villains of the village”. However, Charlie Gillespie, 62, whose village shop is next to the site, does not believe that Avoch — which is home to 1,500 people — is the right place for Ms Keith’s café. He said: “What do we need a café for in a wee place like this? We’ve already got one café and a hotel and if you go to the next village you’ll see there’s a café closing down because of a shortage of business. Avoch is an old village and we’re happy with it the way it is.”

There was at least one person in the village yesterday who offered support. Allan Carmichael, 33, who manages the local hardware shop, said: “I think Avoch is crying out for a decent café where people passing through can stop. During the summer it would be packed. I think part of the negative publicity is purely because the plan involves Penelope Keith.”

Ms Keith could not be reached for comment last night.

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