A Douglas Hospice shop is allowed to extend its opening hours, despite concerns about the impact on pedestrian and vehicle safety.

The store in Allan Street currently only opens on Saturdays, but permission has been given for it to trade on Thursday afternoons as well.

The revised opening hours will be assessed after twelve months, before a decision is made on whether they should be made permanent.

The shop, which opened for business in 1997, sells a range of goods including large items of furniture.

The aim of opening on Thursday afternoons was to give more people a chance to visit the premises.

Hospice told a planning appeal it would also ease congestion on Saturdays when, on average, 125 people visited the shop in the first hour of opening.

But an Allen Street resident opposed the move because she felt the lack of car parking in the area would pose a major safety risk.

She said on Saturdays customers could use spaces which were occupied by office workers during the week, but that wouldn't apply on Thursdays.

She also worried about the Thursday hours clashing with picking-up time for the local schools.

However, an independent planning inspector said such circumstances could change on a day to day basis, and suggested permission should be granted for a trial period of a year.