A SANDWICH shop which breached council planning rules has won permission to continue serving hot food.

Tastebuds opened in a former greengrocers on The Avenue, in Seaham, around a year ago.

Following an enforcement complaint, Durham County Council found the takeaway was serving hot food at the venue without the correct licence.

On Tuesday, councillors were asked to approve a retrospective bid for a ‘change of use’ to operate as both a hot food takeway and a shop.

At a meeting to decide the application at County Hall, planning officer Lisa Morina explained  the planning breach.

This included the “hot food element outweighing the cold food” at the shop.

During consultation, objections were also raised from neighbours about the development.

Potential traffic problems, smells and disturbance and the number of takeaways already in the area were listed as issues.

Deneside division councillors Eddie and Jennifer Bell, also wrote to the council raising concerns about existing parking issues in the area.

Planners said there were no objections from the council’s highway department with the benefits of the development outweighing any negatives.

This included the sustainable location and food offer of roasts, curries and lasagne – as opposed to the normal hot food takeaway offer of fish and chips/pizza.

Going forward, planners also imposed rules to restrict the business from becoming a late night takeaway.

This includes hours of operation being limited up to 3pm.

Another condition will ensure the flat above the shop is linked to the space downstairs in future years.

At the meeting, Coun David Freeman noted that a nearby hot food takeaway had recently been rejected.

Planners said this was linked to a ‘night time’ use and was not relevant to the current application.

Following discussion, the plans were approved by Durham County Council’s area planning committee.

Agreed opening hours include:

Monday to Friday, 7.30am-3pm

Saturday, 7am-3pm

Sundays and Bank Holidays, 8am-2.30pm