PLANS to construct a veterinary surgery at a Whalley business park have been rejected by councillors.

Developer Andrew Ronan wanted to construct the surgery at the north end of his Sidings Business Park in Station Road.

The business park, at the site of the former railway sidings, comprises two blocks for a variety of commercial use and housing.

A meeting of the Ribble Valley Council's planning and development committee heard the proposed office block housing the surgery and a garage to store maintenance vehicles for the business park lay just outside the Whalley boundary.

Planning officer John Macholc said: "The plans do not detail parking and service provision and are not sufficiently clear to determine the precise position of the intended building.

"It is clear that the whole of the building would be located beyond the defined settlement boundary as shown on the local plan.

"The design of the building is in keeping with the rest of the business park, but at odds with the rural landscape in terms of style and scale."

He recommended refusal on the grounds the proposed development would be inappropriate in the open countryside and detrimental to the area's visual amenity.

Andrew Ronan asked councillors to defer their decision, claiming he had not been given sufficient time due to the Christmas period to submit relevant information to planning officers.

A suggestion by Sabden councillor Frank Goss that the matter be deferred was defeated by four votes to eight, after the meeting heard there was nothing to stop the developer submitting a revised application.