THE mother of a Pendle teenager left paralysed after falling 20ft off a bridge has won her battle to extend her home to meet her daughter’s needs.

Chloe Holgate, 17, of Newchurch-in-Pendle, suff-ered spinal injuries and was paralysed from the chest down after she fell backwards off a bridge in Higherford in September, 2007.

She has lost all mobility from her chest down, is now only able to move her arms, shoulders and thumbs and requires a specialised electric wheelchair.

Chloe’s mother, Liz Simpson, was given permission to extend the property in the designated Conservation area, New-church village, by Barrowford and Western Parishes Committee.

She will now be able to build an extension including ground floor bedroom with disabled access shower room The decision to approve the application represents a victory for the family as there were objections to the single-storey extension from the public and Goldshaw Booth Parish Council.

The parish council argued the ‘excessively large development with no windows’ would ‘upset the aesthetic of the area’ and ruin views into the village.

It added that the development would reduce the amount of parking in the village, which it believes is already limited.

Three letters of objection also raised concers over parking and the future use if the family move on. Mrs Simpson, who had consid-ered moving from the village, was relieved at the result, saying: “It’s fantastic after waiting for so long. We just have to wait for the paperwork to be done and then the work can begin.

“We need to stay here because of all the people in the village who help us out.”

The committee said the appearance of the conserv-ation area would be pre-served because the develop- ment proposes to use natural stone along with blue slate to the roof, which are consistent with those used on surrounding buildings.

Mrs Simpson slammed the criticisms aimed at the development.

She said: “I was so annoyed about the objections because I thought I had the support of all the village but it was just the parish council.

“I was especially annoyed at the comments about car-parking because the work is to help someone have a normal life. I’m just glad the decision has been passed.”