A SCHEME to redevelop a vacant pub in Allerton was refused yesterday, over concerns about a lack of car parking.

Ashfaq Hussain had applied for permission to give the former Prince of Wales pub in Allerton Road a new frontage and a first floor extension, as well as converting one first-floor flat into two.

A spokesman for Mr Hussain said: "We are looking at a building which has been more or less run down for a few years. We are trying to breathe new life into this building and create jobs for the local community."

But nearby resident Edward Sweeney told the panel he feared that the development would harm road safety on Allerton Road, pointing out there were separate plans to build two new shops on what had been the pub car park.

He said: "Twenty-two people have written in. They are not writing in to complain because somebody wants to open a restaurant.

"It doesn't matter what the business is opening as. The real problem is highway congestion."

The application was yesterday refused by the Bradford area planning panel, because the applicant was not providing any car parking for the flats.

But the meeting heard the pub could still be converted into a restaurant without any planning permission, as both uses fell within the same category in the planning system.