PLANS to build a dormer bungalow in Stanley Crook, have been approved despite residents' protests.

More than 20 people opposed the plan, and many of them attended the Wear Valley District Council planning meeting where the plan was approved.

Neighbours said the bungalow would affect the landscape and add to traffic problems in the narrow streets behind their homes.

Winifred Ayre, 85, who has lived in the street for 40 years, said: "Several small children already visit the area, does their safety not matter to anyone?

"Where will site workers park their cars? Certainly not in the back lanes, where car parking is at a premium."

She said that the new building could create an "urban sprawl" in the area