The year-long battle to win additional showroom space at Heathfield firm Prestige Furniture is over – for now.

Teignbridge councillors have given approval for the company to increase the percentage of its floor space given over to a showroom from around 10 to 30 per cent.

However the permission is restricted to Prestige Furniture and not transferable to any new business that occupies the building, a condition that council solicitor Simon Barnes queried and advised against.

‘I don’t think it’s justified to tie it to one particular person,’ he said.

After the vote Prestige owner Rob Ash said he was ‘extremely relieved’ but the personal condition was ‘quite harsh’.

‘It means that if ever I want to sell the business, although I have no intention of doing that whatsoever, I would be disadvantaged,’ he said.

‘I’ll wait to see the wording after which I might accept the condition or I might appeal against it. Of course, Simon Barnes has said it might not be possible to impose anyway.’

The personal restriction is unusual and was called for because of Prestige Furniture’s location on ‘employment land’ where retailing must be ancillary to a firm’s main business.

The council’s development control committee overwhelmingly approved the plan without any restrictions in October but the council’s leader, Cllr Alan Connett, invoked a clause to bring the matter to December’s full council meeting.

He argued, as did council planning officers and chairman of the development control committee, Cllr Mike Haines, that allowing Prestige to increase its showroom area would be contrary to policy.

Worried that the future of Heathfield would be at stake Cllr Connett said: ‘As sure as night is day it will become an out of town retail park.’

He warned that the council would be ‘opening one big can of worms that we will live to regret’ and said the economic viability of Newton Abbot would be threatened.

In the protracted debate arguments both for and against were heard after which the vote went against refusal.

The amendment to include the personal restriction was then proposed by Cllr Keith Smith and the vote went 19 - 12 in favour with one abstention.