VILLAGERS are furious that plans have been approved to build 20 flats on the site of a former bus depot.

When proposals were revealed to build executive flats on the site of a former coach repair depot in Kimblesworth, near Chester-le-Street, it provoked controversy among residents, who said it would add to traffic problems.

An initial bid by developer BJ Walton Building Contractors to build 22 flats was refused because the buildings were too high and there were concerns about the increase in traffic.

The Newcastle firm returned to Chester-le-Street District Council with plans for a building that was 8.5 metres high, instead of ten metres, and contained two fewer flats.

The Highways Authority did not raise any objection and said the roads could accommodate the additional traffic.

BJ Walton also submitted a traffic report produced by a company of independent transport engineers. The survey looked at traffic in the village during one evening, and on a Saturday afternoon when a cricket match was being played at the Kimblesworth ground.

It concluded the extra traffic generated would be insignificant and that the area had managed to cope when coaches travelled to and from the depot in Elm Crescent.

Campaigners objecting to the development said the survey should have been carried out when the traffic was at its most problematic, during first-team cricket matches.

They said that the traffic through the village has been so bad that a bus company had to cut back its service to Durham because of difficulties the drivers encountered.

Residents had sent a petition to the council against the plans and North-West Durham MP Kevan Jones sent a letter highlighting the villagers' concerns.

Addressing the council, resident Margaret Ludkin said: "This survey was not done during peak times, which would include school runs, when there is traffic generated by Kimblesworth Industrial estate and deliveries made to the care home."

When the council approved the plans, it stipulated that traffic-calming measures should be introduced to the village.

Julie Burnham, from Kimblesworth, said after the meeting: "We are appalled by the decision.

"We are not opposed to any building, it is an old bus depot. But we have just one access road through the village and it would not cope with all this traffic."