PLANS to substitute a school with a retail park as part of a land exchange deal have been approved by councillors.

But at a meeting yesterday, the decision provoked an angry response from local people.

Modus Properties, the firm behind Peterlee's regeneration scheme, applied to Easington District Council for permission to create a retail park and road improvements on the site of North Blunts School, in Peterlee.

In return, it proposed rebuilding the run-down school and a private nursery on the nearby former Itec site.

When the plans were first considered by the council, in January, residents expressed concerns, and councillors resolved to consult further with the developers.

They also pledged to talk to residents in a bid to reach a compromise.

A report prepared for yesterday's meeting outlined 14 complaints, including the shops' proximity to homes, an increase in traffic, loss of privacy and house values, and the development's inappropriate setting. It also gave Modus Properties' responses.

The report highlighted the company's offers to replace the proposed steel school fence with a timber one, provide a walkway with a lockable gate outside the school's northern boundary, and create alternative parking arrangements for the nursery.

The report's author, Ian Foster, head of planning and building control services, recommended that councillors agree to the plans, before submitting them to the Secretary of State, Stephen Byers.

He stated: "It is considered that the proposals represent an acceptable, necessary and sustainable development, of importance to the district."

At yesterday's meeting, Independent Councillor Joan Maslin called for the application to be refused.

She said: "If this development goes ahead, it's a total disregard of people's safety and quality of life."

Resident Betty Burnett said the proposed school site was a designated open space. She said: "After 20 or 30 years of saying this is an open space, when has the planning department changed its mind?

"Over the past 20 years, the council has stopped any residents' developments. Now it has a duty to protect them."

The plans will be submitted to Mr Byers, who will decide whether to call them in for a final decision.