A CONTROVERSIAL planning application is set to be decided by Government inspectors after a council refused to give it permission.

Councillors threw out an outline planning application for another eight flats, in addition to the 16 at the Old Schoolhouse, in Edmund Street, Darwen.

The official reason for rejecting it was that councillors feared it would lead to traffic problems. But at the meeting when it was discussed, in October last year, councillors claimed people living in the flats had been responsible for problems in the area.

During a heated debate at the planning and highways committee, it was reported that, in the past two years, 200 crimes had been reported around the converted old schoolhouse, including 86 in the street itself.

The catalogue of bad behaviour, which police say is far higher than they would expect, included juvenile nuisance, burglary, suspicious activity, stealing vehicles, domestic violence and drugs. Eight homes in the street are now empty. Residents told the committee the owners of some had left after giving up attempts to sell and landlords had stopped letting properties because of the flats.

They said some people who managed to move on sold their homes at half price to escape. Other families also said they were trapped in houses which had devalued by up to £10,000.

The flats' landlord, Malcolm Cantor, admitted at the time he had some problems with some tenants, but accused councillors of making scapegoats of people. He has appealed against the decision.