AN application to build ten flats on a busy street has been withdrawn after fears were raised that they could compromise road safety.

Easington District Council received an application for planning permission for the development in North Road East, Wingate.

It outlined plans to build a three-storey property on North Road and to extend numbers 65 and 66, with access for vehicles at the back of the site.

But people living in the area objected to the proposals, writing six letters and submitting a 39-name petition.

They said the flats could attract disaffected young men and result in social problems, that vehicles going to the site would increase traffic problems, that the development would create a disturbance and the street was already congested.

The highway authority raised serious road safety concerns.

It said: "The frontage to the site has three commercial/retail type businesses in a relatively small area, and has the facility of attracting parked vehicles.

"This has a detrimental effect on the sight line to the north when exiting the proposed site entrance/exit and, as such, would seriously compromise road safety if an increase in vehicle movements were to occur at this location."

The authority said it was particularly worried about children visiting a chip shop. The report said: "The chip shop could quite easily be a magnet for some children at lunchtime. Their safety could easily be compromised by the increased vehicle movements."

After council officers recommended that planning permission be refused, the application was withdrawn.