A PLANNING inspector has dismissed an appeal against the refusal to allow staff accommodation to be built on an estate on the outskirts of Darlington.

The owner of High Linhams, which stands near the A66, had applied to Darlington Borough Council to build a three bedroom gatehouse to house security staff 24-hours a day, which was turned down in May last year.

Following a site visit planning inspector Matthew Birkinshaw turned down the appeal on the grounds that the essential need for a permanent dwelling was not ‘fully substantiated’.

Mr Birkinshaw added: “Given the location of the appeal site, and based on the evidence before me, I am not convinced that sufficient justification has been presented to substantiate new residential development in the countryside of the scale and type proposed.”