PLANNERS refused a proposal by developers to bulldoze a Newport office block and replace it with 14 flats.

Newport Council's planning committee turned down the outline planning application from J Otley Rhodes Ltd to build the flats on Bassaleg Road because of concerns over development of the site the impact it would have on neighbouring houses.

Five residents who live near the site objected to the plans, claiming the flats would intrusively look over a properties on Stow Park Circle.

Other neighbours feared the development of 12 two-bedroom flats and two one-bedroom flat would cause parking and traffic problems in the area.

The proposed 1,500 square metre site is near the former site of Monmouthshire County Council offices, which became a four-storey apartment block after gaining approval; in 1999.

A report by planning officers said the plan was "unacceptable" and would have an overbearing impact on the area because of its "unsympathetic proximity to other properties.

The report said the council's head of engineering and construction did not object the proposal but had advised developers to come up with a revised layout that would benefit visibility and improve highway and pedestrian safety.

It said: "The proposal represents an over-development of the site and a poor standard of design, which is out of keeping with the character, appearance and urban form of the street scene and surrounding area.

"It would result in a loss of privacy to the rear gardens, and potentially rear facing rooms, of neighbouring properties."