Planners have turned down an application for 215m of fencing alongside an embankment at Westoe Crown Village in South Shields.

The plan was to put up fencing on either side of a footpath which links the village centre to Mowbray Road, running alongside the Westoe Crown Primary School.

The bid, by South Tyneside Council's asset management team, was supported by residents hopeful that the fence would reduce incidents of anti-social behaviour in the area, deter youths from congregating on the embankment and provide more privacy for residents.

However, landowner Taylor Wimpey opposed the move, fearing the proposed fence could have the opposite effect to what it was intended for.

A company spokesman said: "The installation of a fence would effectively create a tunnel between two high-security fences, with nowhere for a person to escape should any incident arise in which they believed their wellbeing was threatened.

"While residents may consider this fence would deter anti-social behaviour at the rear of the properties, it would effectively enclose the area, providing an area where people could congregate."

A report to the council's planning committee said there had been no incidents or crimes in the area between April and September this year.

Whiteleas ward representative Coun Bill Brady said: "This proposal really frightens me.

"It would be fenced on both sides and, because it is enclosed, people will be frightened to go through it.

"Instead of solving a problem, it could create another one."