A PROPOSAL to build 150 homes in Sedgefield has been dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate.

Avant Homes’s outline application for the development on land to the south of Beacon Lane went before county planners in February.

It was refused on the grounds it would significantly harm the character of the local landscape and would amount to a “substantial and inappropriate incursion into the countryside”.

The proposal faced fierce opposition from the public in the form of 162 letters of objection sent to Durham County Councillors.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England, the Sedgefield Civic Trust and Sedgefield Town Council also raised objections.

At the time members of the planning committee labelled it “awful” and “inappropriate” but applicant Avant Homes appealed the decision.

An inquiry was held at the end of June and the appeal has been dismissed.

Inspector Richard McCoy, writing in his dismissal letter, said: “I have identified that the proposal would be harmful to the character and appearance of the area.”