A TOP Liverpool hotel could be knocked back on a bid to install a VIP entrance because city planners cannot be sure of the status of the guests.

They said the term VIP is “ambiguous and open to abuse” and are planning to refuse the Hope Street Hotel’s application.

The hotel claimed it needs the entrance, to be sited in residential Hope Place, to meet the needs of its clientele.

But city planning bosses said previous high-profile guests, including former US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, were not deterred from staying there because of a lack of an exclusive entrance.

Residents have also objected to the application on the basis they fear their quiet street will be overrun with packs of paparazzi and limousines.

A report to go before councillors next week states the hotel wants to use the side entrance between 11pm and 7am for “emergency purposes, disabled access and for purposes strictly in accordance with the prior agreement of the hotel management”.

It says the hotel feels that “in order for it to be efficient and competitive and deliver its full range of services, the hotel management will need the flexibility to operate a second entrance, which can be used occasionally when VIP customers require a more discreet entrance away from Hope Street”.