COUNCILLORS are being asked to refuse plans to demolish a two-storey detached house and replace it with a three-storey building housing 12 apartments.

The proposal to knock down Virginia Lodge, on Darlington Lane, Stockton, which is set in its own grounds and is laid out with lawns, shrubs and a number of mature trees, has generated a lot of opposition from residents.

They are concerned that the development will lead to a reduction in property values, be out of character with the rest of the area, and lead to a loss of privacy.

A report to Stockton Borough Council's planning committee, which meets tomorrow said: "The replacement of the house with a three-storey building necessitating in all likelihood the removal of most of the trees on the site would have a major detrimental impact on local amenities."

It also said that although the applicant has had difficulties in selling the house and a restrained scheme of two to three bungalows may be a more suitable form of development, if the house is no longer suitable for modern usage, any such scheme would still need to maintain the trees, and the present scheme is totally unacceptable.