BUSINESSES hoping to open shops on a Trowbridge housing estate are looking elsewhere according to a property agent in the town.

Brian Fitchett of Brian Fitchett Commercial said businesses have been put off after West Wiltshire District Council deferred an application to build more shops at Paxcroft Mead until uncertainty over the location of a doctor's surgery at the estate is resolved.

Mr Fitchett, whose firm is acting for developer Marshgate, said: "I have had tenants lined up but this has dragged on for so long they are tired of waiting and have given up and decided to find other premises, which is a great shame for the local community.

"For businesses to be driven away is one thing, but residents are also suffering. People living on Paxcroft Mead want shops and they are disappointed that the facilities they want are in jeopardy."