A church's plans to use an office building in Welwyn Garden City as its new place of worship have been rejected.

Fountain of Life, which has a congregation of around 120 people, currently welcomes people to worship at a building in Howardsgate.

But, the church had gone to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council to ask for permission to use Arundel House in Garnell Business Park as its new home.

The plans would have seen building’s ground floor warehouse become a foodbank, and the first floor office transformed into a contact centre.

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has blocked the move, citing the loss of an employment space and parking concerns as it rejected the plans.

"The application site is designated as an employment area where relevant policies seek to resist the loss of employment land," the decision read.

"The proposal lacks evidence to justify the loss of the employment land and as such the application has failed to clearly demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority that the land or premises are no longer required to meet future employment requirements and business and community needs.

"The proposed development would also fail to provide satisfactory levels of parking, resulting in parking stress for its users."