By Matthew Legg Business editor

Last updated 11:43, Thursday, 04 September 2008

A CARPET store has opened on a site in Carlisle where permission for a Sainsbury’s store was refused.

Change of use: Allied Carpets, Scotland Road, Stanwix

Allied Carpets has opened a temporary branch at the former Gates Tyres premises, on Scotland Road, Stanwix.

The company is using the site as a stopgap between moving from its present Parkhouse Road store to a new permanent home in the old Durham Pine building on Shaddongate.

The Stanwix store was due to open today and all staff and stock have been transferred from Parkhouse Road.

Allied Carpets salesman John Bell said: “It’s just temporary, we only expect to be open in Stanwix for a couple of months.”

Sainsbury’s was thwarted in its attempt to build a store on the site last month after councillors ignored their own traffic study and refused planning permission.

They voted against the application on the grounds of noise and excess traffic.

Developer Kans & Kandy wanted to build a Sainsbury Local, a separate shop unit and nine flats there.

Councillors had already deferred a decision on the scheme for an independent traffic survey to be prepared.

But they ignored the report’s view that the extra 900 traffic movements generated by the store each day would be acceptable.

They also ignored the head of legal services, Mark Lambert, who told the committee that there was every chance an appeal would be granted and the council would face a legal bill of around £10,000.

There were 43 written objections and a petition against the store signed by 534 people.

The Highway Authority had no objection to the plan saying there would only be a slight increase in traffic.

The 5,000sq ft proposed store would have been similar in size to Brampton Co-op and only a third as big as the Aldi in Kingstown Road.

Peter Razaq, a director of developer Kans & Kandy, said it would be appealing the decision.

mlegg@cngroup.co.uk