PLANS to build twin two storey apartment blocks in Heaton have been thrown out by planning chiefs.

Developer Castlecrest proposed to flatten two detached houses on a site on Oakwood Drive to make way for 12 new homes.

Letters from 14 neighbours were received by the council objecting on a variety of grounds, ranging from concerns over increased noise and pollution to loss of privacy.

Members of the planning and highways committee decided that the scheme would be contrary to planning guidelines and detrimental to urban renaissance.

Highway engineers, environmental health officers and the environment agency made no objections to the proposals.