A COUNCIL has been fined by the local government watchdog for its lack of action in reducing fumes and noise from a garage carrying out paint spraying and body repairs.

Teesdale District Council was ordered to pay £750 to Mike O'Sullivan and his wife after Ombudsman Patricia Thomas found that it failed to take sufficient action.

The couple, who live next door to Mickleton Service Station, in Mickleton, near Barnard Castle, complained that the council had failed to act on their complaints about paint fumes and noise from a compressor.

The council said it tried to solve the dispute informally, without enforcement action.

While Mrs Thompson did not criticise the approach, she judged that the council's failure to take appropriate action was "administration causing injustice".

Her report said that Mr and Mrs O'Sullivan believed the garage owners had intensified the use of the site, and applied for retrospective planning permission only when complaints were made.

The council said it took "reasonably practicable steps" to investigate the complaints, and officers made nearly 40 visits to the garage since August 2000.

David Hutchinson, a partner at the service station, said: "I think it's very unfair that Teesdale have had to pay this.

"They've pushed me to make sure that I've had everything done correctly.

"I've spent about £10,000 getting everything in order, although, I've been here 30 years and never had a complaint from anyone else in the village."

Council chief executive Charles Anderson said: "We had hoped to secure an improvement by persuasion rather than by enforcement. Unfortunately, this never worked, which we will bear in mind for future reference."

Mr and Mrs O'Sullivan declined to comment.