COUNCILLORS who approved plans to develop four homes which objectors say will ruin a much-loved view have come under fire from a civic watchdog.

The scheme to build houses under Knaresborough's much-photographed railway viaduct, on the banks of the River Nidd, was approved at a meeting of a Harrogate Borough Council planning committee after being submitted for the eighth time.

Harrogate Civic Society's planning spokesman Henry Pankhurst said councillors had defied local opinion and disregarded an independent government planning inspector's decision on a previous application.

Mr Pankhurst quoted from the inspector's ruling in which he said building on the site would "significantly impinge on the sense of space" underneath the arches.

The inspector also said development would obscure views of the cliff face, severely detracting from the imposing presence of a natural feature.

Hundreds of residents and visitors - even people living overseas - have objected to the development.

The application for the Da Mario restaurant site, by Leo Campagna, was approved at a crowded planning meeting.

But the civic society says it will have an adverse impact on the conservation area and the Grade Two-listed viaduct.

Mr Pankhurst said planning councillors had been worn down by repeated applications for the same site.

"Capitulation in the face of repeated applications is no way to serve the community."

The view is widely published in tourist guides and on postcards of the market and tourist town.

Knaresborough Town Council said the design and siting of the homes were inappropriate in a conservation area.

Mr Campagna was given permission to convert and extend the restaurant into a home, and to demolish Tear Drop Cottage, replacing it with a similar styled building, plus two detached properties.