McDonald's plan approved after appeal

The restaurant would include 53 parking spaces and room for up to 20 vehicles to queue at the drive-through

Plans for a new McDonald's drive-through that had been refused near a "dangerous" Derbyshire junction have been approved by a government inspector.

The fast food giant had an application for a restaurant off The Castle Way, next to the A38, near Willington, rejected last April by South Derbyshire District Council - against recommendations of council officers.

Hundreds of residents objected to the plans, with some arguing the proposed site was near an "unsafe junction", which is the entry and exit slipway to the A38.

Planning inspector S Dean overturned the authority's decision at appeal, saying all junctions around the site have "sufficient capacity to accommodate the proposal".

The red highlighted section shows the location of the new restaurant

The site sits opposite a BP petrol station and the OK Diner and is currently occupied by a skip storage company, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Diane Stevenson, who owns a florist in Willington, had told the BBC: "I just don't think it's a safe junction, there's not enough of a slip road for you pulling off on to the A38, on to a 70mph road from such a short slip road.

"It's dangerous as it is now, so extra traffic coming through that junction, I just don't think it's a good idea."

Sue Bussey, who has lived on The Castle Way for more than 60 years, said she had attended accidents on the road many times.

Residents also raised concerns about noise, litter and anti-social behaviour the drive-through would bring to the area.

'Employment benefits'

Mr Dean wrote in his decision: "I accept that in highway terms, there is a lot of activity around the site, with access to and from the A38, as well as residential accesses, multiple accesses for the filling station/diner, as well as the junction between The Castle Way and the A5132.

"However, neither the council, county highways nor National Highways raise any objection on highway safety grounds.

"Traffic modelling, including modelling traffic growth and undertaking new traffic-counts, has found that all of the junctions around the site have sufficient capacity to accommodate the proposal."

He also said the area was "already a somewhat busy environment, with near-constant road noise from the A38" and noise from vehicles using the junctions around the site.

"Given the existing level of vehicle movements as well as the relatively minor additional level of movement associated with the proposal, I do not consider that this would cause unacceptable harm to living conditions," he said.

Mr Dean concluded the project would bring employment and economic benefits to the area, which aligned with policies from the council.