A proposed fish and chip shop in Welwyn Garden City can now go ahead after a tense vote at a council meeting.

Grieg Hutchinson put forward plans late last year to turn the old Handside Post Office in Marsden Road into a takeaway, but these were called in by Cllr Fiona Thomson and Cllr Gemma Moore after a number of objections.

The proposal was discussed at a Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council Development Management Committee meeting on Thursday night, where a tense vote decided the fate of the fish and chip shop.

Voting was tied at four apiece, with only Cllr Jane Quinton left to vote.

The council's deputy leader leant in favour of the plans and pushed them through five votes to four.

The unit became vacant when the Post Office moved into the Nisa store in nearby Handside Lane in April 2019.

"There are various concerns raised, including the smell from the extractor fans, litter which will inevitably be deposited all over the place by people eating their fish and chips, and also by people walking back to school or home," said a resident who spoke for those objecting to the plans.

"Having a unit open until 10pm to 10.30pm in a predominantly residential area will lead to inevitable noise and anti-social behaviour."

Concerns were also raised about parking and traffic, as the resident continued: "The shops are on a busy junction between Handside Lane and Marsden Road, and since there are parking restrictions in the area, residents and their visitors often parking outside the shop.

"The parking is generally very limited, and a fish and chip would exacerbate considerably the ongoing parking problem. It would also create much great risk for pedestrians and cyclists, including elderly residents.

"This unit does need to be brought back into use, but what's disappointing is that as far as I can tell, there have never been any attempt to market the unit to find a more appropriate use, despite the requirement in the Local Plan to market a unit before a change of use would be considered."

Speaking before the vote, Development Management Committee chair, Cllr Jean-Paul Bernard Skoczylas added: "The site location is suburban, and there's limited parking outside, but the existing shops are there and will be used in one way or another.

"I think you have to weigh up the impact of this change of use versus and existing consented use, so officers recommend this change of use."