A BID to open Chipping Norton’s first kebab shop has failed after an outcry from residents.

Thirty-six residents wrote to West Oxfordshire District Council warning the plan for Horsefair would increase antisocial behaviour, noise, littering and create cooking odours. They also warned parking was inadequate.

There were fears the shop would damage trade at neighbouring bridal store The Sassy Wedding shop.

A petition with 57 signatures also opposed the plan while Chipping Norton Town Council “strongly objected”.

The applicant has said they will come back with a new scheme.

Members of the district council’s uplands area planning subcommittee rejected the plan after backing an officers’ report that said it would have an “unacceptable urbanising impact harmful to the rural character of the area”.

The report did not raise noise or road safety concerns but said a ventilation shaft would be an “alien feature” and “detract from the character and appearance of the area”.

John Dix, 60, who lives next door to the planned kebab shop, said: “We are very pleased that they have come to their senses and rejected it.

“We were all extremely concerned. It would have completely ruined our health and happiness.”

He added: “All the smells would have filled the area. We wouldn’t have been able to enjoy our gardens.”

Sally Jaffé, 79, of nearby Rockhill, said: “I’m very relieved. It would have been completely intolerable if it was built.

“It’s a completely unsuitable site – it’s on a corner, there’s no parking and it’s a residential area. And we’ve already got a kebab van.”

The van parks in Market Street in the evenings. The planning application was to change the currently empty building’s use from commercial to hot food takeaway.

Committee member Annie Roy-Barker said she had been assured the wedding shop would move if the plan went ahead.

She said: “This application concerns me greatly.

“I really do believe that the living conditions of neighbouring residents will be materially affected, contrary to what the application states.”

David Scott, the agent for the applicant, said: “We believe we can overcome the understandable anxiety about the effect on the conservation area, and we will be seeking a meeting with the council to find a solution.”