Concerned residents and shop owners celebrated as an application for a Hindu temple to triple its capacity was unanimously rejected by the council.

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The Sri Raja Rajeswari Amman Temple (pictured above) in Dell Lane, Stoneleigh, had applied for permission to increase the capacity for worshippers from 250 to 850 and build accommodation for temple priests.

Kuna Singham, the chairman of the temple, said the increased capacity would allow more people to go to weddings and other ceremonies, and allow priests to stay in first floor accommodation.

But the temple adjoins onto The Broadway, which is home to a large number of Stoneleigh shops and businesses.

And residents feared the larger temple would have exacerbated parking issues in and around Stoneleigh Broadway, been out of character for the area, and would have created noise.

From April: Stoneleigh residents fear Hindu temple expansion could mean "death knell" of Broadway businesses

Anthony Smith, 78, who is retired and lives in Elmwood Drive, Stoneleigh, had said that if the application was passed it could have been the “death knell for a lot of businesses”.

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council’s planning committee unanimously rejected the application at a meeting on Thursday, May 12.

Natalie Rogers, chairman of the Stoneleigh and Auriol Residents' Association, said: “We are delighted that the planning committee has agreed with the concerns and objections raised by both the residents and traders of Stoneleigh and Auriol.

“Stoneleigh and Auriol Residents Association has been working over the last few months with both the traders and local residents to fight the application on a united front and we successfully achieved that last night.

“From the outset we believed the application was completely inappropriate as it fails to comply on a number of planning grounds, which the planning committee confirmed by their decision not only to refuse it, but by also incorporating a number of other areas such as noise and the size of the buildings.”

Margaret Kimberley, 79, owner of Maggies Pets in The Broadway, has run her store for 28 years.

She said: “I’m very pleased. It already backs onto my shop and means we are not getting enough customers because they are there all day coming and going.

“But (the application) was knocked down and I’m very happy.”

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Participants in the temple's annual chariot festival

Mr Singham insisted there were “no problems regarding parking” around the temple and that the temple could have explained the application in a more attractive way to the community.

He conceded: “There is nothing we can do about it now.”