Parking concerns have been raised after plans were approved to turn a derelict post office into a beauty salon.

Councillors gave the go-ahead to the scheme for the shop at 261, Whalley Road in Accrington at a planning committee meeting, despite 23 objections via a petition.

Opponents to the change of use application by Mr D Gregson claimed there is a ‘lack of parking facilities’ and it would ‘give rise to road safety issues’.

But planning officers said there had been no objections raised by Lancashire County Council highways officers.

Speaking against the application, Milnshaw ward councillor Malcolm Pritchard warned that local businesses could suffer due to a lack of parking.

He told the meeting: “The upshot is there is parking outside but it’s for passing trade with a newsagents, Booze Buster, flower shop and a chemist. If you open a beauty salon there then there’s going to be a lot more cars parked on Whalley Road.

“Orange Street leads up to Accrington Academy where there’s a lot of people and children coming down. Whitaker Street and Pilot Street you can’t park up there.

“Across the road there is a beauty salon and they all park on Hawksworth Road. The parking facilities around there will not take something else.”

Coun Pritchard said it would have a ‘big, big impact on the traffic flow in that area’.

He added: “Other shops in that are will lose trade because people will not be able to park there.

They are all taking parking facilities up, but not like this would. If we get something else that will grid it up completely.”

Under the plans the new salon will keep the existing ATM machine and open from 9am to 8pm on Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

Coun Tim O’Kane told the meeting: “The ATM is a much used facility. You run the risk if you turn it down that somebody else comes along with something you don’t like and they rip the ATM out.”

Coun Peter Britcliffe said: “This building has retail planning permission so I could go along there and open a greengrocers and you have 50 cars parked to pick things up.

“If somebody goes to a beauty salon you might have one car there for half an hour which will cause a lot less problems than cars weaving in and out and stopping for smaller items.”

Coun Bill Pinder said it was better to see the building ‘replaced and cleaned up’ then left ‘derelict’.