Nineteen new homes in Tolleshunt D'Arcy have been refused planning permission.

J&M Seabrook (Tollesbury) Lts had hoped to build 19 homes on land south of Chapel Road, including two, three and four bedroom houses and bungalows.

Six would have been affordable and Peter Le Grys, of planning agents Robinson and Hall, had said they would be spacious, have large gardens and more parking spaces than most recently built homes.

But Maldon District Council said the layout and scale was “an uncharacteristic development in a sensitive edge of settlement location” that would encroach into open countryside and the types of housing did not reflect local demand and trends.