PEOPLE living in the shadow of an "unwanted" supermarket are dismayed at a developer's plans to build a drive-through restaurant near their homes.

Residents of Hyndburn Road, Church, were shocked earlier this year when bulldozers moved in to build a supermarket for discount German retail chain Lidl - just yards from their homes.

The development company behind the supermarket, Arrowcroft Northwest Ltd, has now submitted plans build a drive-through restaurant at the former Sharnhall Reservoir site.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said today: " We don't want a drive-through restaurant here. The supermarket closes at 6pm, but a drive-through would probably be open late into the evening.

"It was bad enough when the supermarket was built. We didn't want that. No one told us what they were doing until hours before the work started, and there was nothing we could do to stop it.

"The council hasn't told us about this restaurant plan yet. We only heard about it from the workmen."

Earlier this month councillors approved plans for a new Accrington fire station to be built on the site, despite residents' concerns about noise and traffic congestion.

Planning permission for the supermarket had been refused by Hyndburn Council in the early 1990s, but the Government overruled the authority's decision in 1994.

In June this year, with just weeks to spare before the planning permission expired, bulldozers moved to construct the supermarket, giving residents just a few hours' warning.

Council officers said the edge-of-town supermarket would be unlikely to get approval in today's climate because of new planning guidelines which aim to protect town centre trade.

The plan will be considered by Hyndburn development services committee.

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