COUNCILLORS have thrown out a scheme which would have benefited thousands of Weymouth and Portland people by providing scooter and beach buggies for those with disabilities.

The Wheels for Freedom charity already provides such a service but only on a mobile and part-time basis.

Their proposal was to make this service permanent by using part of Melcombe Regis car park off Commercial Road, Weymouth, to site a single storey pavilion-style building from which to run their operation.

Planning officers liked the idea which they said would operate by having customers with walking difficulties arriving at the site by car, parking up and then going into the building to get a scooter.

But members of yesterday's Weymouth and Portland Borough Council planning and traffic committee voted six to one against the idea despite hearing from planning manager Simon Williams there are 8,500 people in the borough registered with disabilities and this was likely to rise'.

Coun Christine James questioned the need for such a unit and its choice of site on road safety issues because people will still take these buggies across the road and out into traffic'.

Coun David Mannings said he didn't like the loss of 27 car parking spaces which would be caused by the building even if the site would gain 13 disabled spaces.

Mr Williams warned the meeting that many points being raised were not material to the planning issue you are considering' and he urged councillors to support the scheme.

But legal advice given members said the loss of parking spaces was material' to debate and they went against chairman Coun Doug Hollings comment that it would be ill advised to vote against this'. They refused the unit on grounds of loss of parking and an unsuitable site on safety grounds.