PLANS to open a dessert cafe on a busy road junction have been refused over fears the business would cause major traffic problems.

Neighbours of the proposed cafe at 160 Allerton Road said they feared it would lead to people parking on double yellow lines and outside their homes until early in the morning.

The plans, submitted by Usman Yaqoob, went before Bradford Council's Bradford Area Planning Panel this morning, where members were told that highways officers had raised major concerns about the location of the cafe - on the junction with Pearson Lane. The road is on a busy mini roundabout, with double yellow lines outside the unit.

The unit was re-built after the previous building was damaged by fire several years ago, and the Council had initially granted permission for the ground floor space to be used as a shop.

Plans to alter this to allow it to open as a cafe were refused earlier this year over traffic concerns.

The application was re-submitted, and before yesterday's meeting council officers again suggested these plans be refused on highways grounds.

The applicants said the cafe would open until 11pm on Monday to Friday and half past midnight on weekends. They claimed customers could park on nearby roads and walk to the cafe.

Highways officers had said that while a shop at the unit would require only two parking spaces, a cafe use would require 10. The current plans have no dedicated parking spaces.

Councillor Kamran Hussain (Lab, Toller) spoke in support of the application at the meeting. He said: "The unit already has A1 (retail) use. The applicants can still go ahead and open a shop selling deserts if they want to. But these applicants want to open up a cafe, they want people to sit down and enjoy a desert with their families.

"The applicants want to start a business in the area. They can't afford another building, and it has cost them a substantial amount of money already.

"These are young entrepreneurs in Bradford who want to start something. They shouldn't be set back by a desktop survey done by some highways officers. The highways department has got this wrong."

The panel also heard from Clare Walsh, who lives near the proposed cafe. She said people already parked on double yellow lines on the roads around the business. She added: "This would make it impossible to live around here, traffic is bad enough already.

"There has been an awful lot of development in this unit already - there has been work happening late at night. We've heard an angle grinder being used until midnight. It's unacceptable for a residential area. I'm very concerned, and its not just me who is concerned.

"This is just in the wrong place, however laudable the idea of entrepreneurship is."

Councillor Alan Wainwright (Lab, Tong) said: "Over the years I've often disagreed with highways officers, but this time I fully agree with them."

The committee then voted to refuse the plans.