A CONTROVERSIAL plan to demolish a house and replace it with six smaller houses has been given approval.

Teesdale District Council gave planning permission to the scheme at Harmire Close, Barnard Castle, despite hearing it would amount to an average of 90 houses per hectare.

Several neighbours had objected to the plan submitted by Christine and Graham Wood as they said it would create parking problems and would be an overdevelopment of the site.

Many of the councillors on Teesdale's planning committee also felt it was a very intensive form of development and there were fears it could set a dangerous precedent.

Councillor David Blackie said: "In common sense terms, it does fly in the face of common sense to demolish a perfectly good four-bedroom house to shoehorn six very small properties into the area.

"It does smack of blatant commercialism."

However, councillor Peter Stubbs said: "I know it's not perfect, it's on rather a tight sort of site, but at the end of the day we need smaller developments. We're crying out for starter homes - let's keep young people in the dale if we can."