PLANNERS have this afternoon thrown out contentious plans to move a laboratory to a Hampshire village.

Wickham Laboratories asked Winchester planning chiefs for permission to relocate its operations to Torbay Farm in Lower Upham.

The company, which already has a presence at the farm, wants to demolish its existing buildings and replace it with a two-storey facility.

After a two-and-a-half hour meeting at The Guildhall planners unanimously rejected the application, saying the building was too big for the rural setting.

For more see next week's Hampshire Chronicle.