A GOVERNMENT inspector has decided Bradford Council was right to refuse a planned taxi booking office in Lidget Green.

Council officers refused a planning application to change the use of 135 Legrams Lane from a store into a taxi booking office earlier this year, and applicant A Hussain lodged an appeal in June.

Officers had said the office would cause too much additional traffic on the road, as well as causing disturbance to residents. The appeal said no vehicles would be parked at the office, which would only be a phone base to direct taxis which would park at a site more than half a mile away.

Government planning inspector Jim Metcalfe said: "Although the operation as proposed at the office could well be modest with limited comings and goings, in practice this would be difficult to control in the future. Experience suggests that taxi offices can typically generate significant amounts of traffic, with drivers visiting their base and waiting for customers.

"The taxi booking office would significantly detract from highway safety and the living conditions of neighbours with regard to noise and disturbance."