PLANS to change the face of a Tynedale town have been downscaled after a proposal for 79 new homes was dropped.

A proposed petrol station, two drive-through restaurants and a two-storey hotel have been put forward to rejuvenate the dilapidated land at the Hadrian Enterprise Park in Haltwhistle.

However, the initial proposal of 79 homes alongside the other building work was removed when a second application was submitted last week.

Nick Lake, asset manager of MCR Property Group, the site’s owner, said: “The inclusion of the homes was too much of a departure from the local plan and given the strong interest from occupiers for the commercial units we did not want to hold the planning up.”

The Manchester-based group, submitted a planning application to Northumberland County Council last July after completing the purchase of the 230,000sq ft Hadrian Enterprise Park in November, 2016.

The application requested full permission to carry out work to the existing car parking spaces, industrial units and workshops, which would be retained but clad in vertical timber to improve their appearance.

The development is due to create up to 100 jobs.