A POPULAR pharmacy was saved from closure after planners decided it could move.

Councillors on Colchester’s planning committee decided to overturn the officer’s recommendation and allow Marks Tey Pharmacy to move to the other side of London Road.

They gave permission for a change of use of an ancillary store on the site of the Food Company to allow the pharmacy to move there.

The plan was due to be refused after the highways authority said it would refuse any application which asked for a new access or to change an existing access onto London Road.

Elizabeth Blundell (Con, Marks Tey) called the application before the committee because she was worried the pharmacy might close if it could not move.

She said: “The pharmacy is currently on a three-month rolling lease which cannot provide certainty for the future.

“If Marks Tey Pharmacy closes, life will be worse for the village it serves.”

After the meeting, pharmacy owner Marc Linch said they were delighted with the “victory for common sense”.

He said: “We were led to believe we would have the support of the planners but then the highways authority did a U-turn.

“We would have lost the pharmacy if this had not been passed because it’s currently on a short-term lease.

“We have found it difficult to make long-term plans but now we can sit down in the new year and start making plans for the new building.”

At the meeting, Peter Chillingworth (Con, Great Tey) had proposed overturning the recommendation.

He said: “This is an important facility for people in the north of my ward.

“It is part of an extremely busy shopping centre and the need for a pharmacy cannot be disputed.

“London Road is busy but that isn’t going to change.”

He added the planning officers should write to Essex County Council to ask them about having a pedestrian crossing put in.