Frying tonight at Pebsham: Yes or No

But Bexhill's eastern-most community has been split by fish and chips.

Do residents want the former post office in Haslam Crescent to be converted into a takeaway chippie?

One petition says No. Another says Yes.

Planners, meanwhile, were discussing the matter yesterday and were set to turn down the idea.

The Pebsham post office closed recently because it was no longer a viable business, much to the disappointment of local users and postmaster Harjit Walia.

Mr Walia found a tenant willing to take on part of the premises as a fish and chip shop on the condition that planning permission is granted.

But council officers yesterday advised councillors to refuse the application.

On the advice of police and environmental health, they said the shop would be likely to create extra late-night noise, traffic and smells and could end-up a magnet for anti-social behaviour.

Planning chief Frank Rallings said the fume extraction system planned for the shop was unsatisfactory. Two members of the public objected on the grounds customers would take-up parking spaces, create litter and attract vermin. a petition, organised at the hairdressing salon next door, was also lodged.

The application proposed that the shop would open until 10pm but Mr Rallings said that would create an unacceptable nuisance for neighbours in the residential area.

Under the plans the post office premises would remain in case the opportunity to reopen the business in the future ever arose.

Pebsham councillor Charles Clark was due to put a counter-petition before planners yesterday.

Residents opposing the scheme are petitioning the committee.

But, as this week's Observer postbag shows, many residents want a takeaway on the estate.

Cllr Clark said on Tuesday: "I will be submitting a counter-petition supporting the fish and chip shop application.

"I have 200 signatures already. If the planning meeting had been later in the month I could have had hundreds more.

"There is no doubt that a lot of people in Pebsham welcome a fish and chip shop as an addition to the amenities.

"The view that a residential area doesn't have shops open in the evening doesn't stand up because the supermarket in Seabourne Road is open until 9pm and the licensed premises are open until 11.

"Pebsham is not a graveyard. It is a vibrant community."