PLANS to turn Durham's former police station into a pub and restaurant complex hit a legal hitch yesterday.

Richard Lazenby, former chairman of Mr Lazenby's sausage company, on Teesside, hoped to win drinks licences for his £2.5m conversion of the building in Court Lane.

But he left Durham Magistrates' Court with only a restaurant licence for the upper two floors of the building, and a ground-floor coffee shop.

He must reapply for the pub licence for the ground floor bar because the city's licensing justices ruled that a technical problem with the wording of the official application rendered it "misleading".

The scheme will bring an attractive Victorian building back into use, create 120 jobs and help local suppliers as well as creating a small brewery on the premises.

But several objections have been lodged, by residents, local churchgoers, Durham University and the city's police.

Yesterday, police solicitor Christopher Southey successfully argued that a new pub licence application should be made because official notices for the existing application suggested the building would only be a restaurant.

The justices agreed, saying the application was "misleading'', but approved the licences for a diner and bistro, which attracted only one objection.

Afterwards, Mr Lazenby said: "We got the licences for the bistro and the fine dine area and the coffee shop. From that point of view the day was excellent.

"The stupid thing is that because of a technicality, which we created or I created, the licence for the pub on the ground floor has not been granted.

"We'll re-apply and come back to court on September 14 and 15.

"If we don't get our on-licence then we'll go to appeal and we'll open the bar as a pizzeria."