COUNCILLORS refused planning permission for a new food take-away after listening to the pleas of a family who live above the proposed site.

Members of Sedgefield Borough Council's development control committee refused an application to change a former accountants office, on High Street, Spennymoor, to a hot food take-away.

Officers had recommended that the application by Dewan Hamid Raja Chowdray, of Fenham, Newcastle, be approved.

But councillors went against the recommendation after Linda and John Teasdale, who live in a flat above with their two daughters, objected to the proposal.

Mrs Teasdale said: "This will affect us deeply, just because we live in the high street doesn't mean we have to put up with everything."

Councillors also felt that the opening of an extra take-away would cause traffic chaos, particularly because of its location near a roundabout.