PLANNERS today admitted for the first time that a town centre coffee shop they spent a year trying to shut down has improved Blackburn.

They claim in a new report that Puccino's, in King William Street, adds to the 'vitality' of Blackburn town centre - despite originally claiming it would damage trade when the deli first opened in July 2002.

They tried to force Barrowford man Ian Finch, who bought the local franchise of Puccino's with his redundancy money from Rolls Royce, to shut down after refusing a retrospective planning application.

Today he said he was glad planners had finally admitted they were wrong to try and close the business.

Blackburn with Darwen officials claimed converting an empty, former menswear outlet in King William Street into a coffee franchise would jeopardise the vitality of the street because it would reduce the number of conventional shops.

Mr Finch and Puccino's bosses argued that many towns and cities did not differentiate between cafes and shops in town centre buildings, and did not demand the right to refuse applications as a result.

After initially refusing the application, councillors and officers made a public U-turn after Mr Finch collected the support of 3,000 people on a petition and dozens of letters criticising the decision appeared in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

At a meeting of Blackburn with Darwen Council's planning and highways committee tomorrow, councillors will be asked to approve a minor amendment to the conditions attached to the planning permission eventually granted in July 2003.

A report by director of regeneration, Adam Scott states: "We have been able to assess the impact of the use of this primary shopping frontage

"It is considered that it contributes to the vitality of the retail area."

Mr Finch said: "I'm glad that they have finally said this. I still think it is thanks to the public and the Lancashire Evening Telegraph that we got to stay open.

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