A NEW veterinary surgery may open in Darlington if councillors give the go-ahead.

Vets 4 Pets has submitted plans to the borough council to convert the former Security Surveyors premises, in Grange Road, into a surgery.

Council officers are recommending approval for the move, despite objectors' claims that it could be damaging to other businesses in the town. There are already three veterinary practices in Darlington and some residents fear that another would be detrimental.

But in a report, planning officer Adrian Miller said: "The planning objections raised to the proposal are from two other veterinary practices in the town. None of the matters raised can be given any significant weight in the determination of the application, since they deal principally with matters of competition between business interests."