DANGER from increased traffic and the loss of the village's heart were the biggest fears expressed at a meeting last week to discuss plans for the site of a former pub.

More than 120 villagers turned up to discuss plans for the site of the former Bell Inn, on the A370 in Congresbury.

Pete Sewell, chairman of Congresbury Parish Council, who led the meeting, said the developer intends to submit a planning application for only the convenience store at first, and subsequently apply for the affordable housing.

No retail operators or housing associations have yet committed to the project.

Representatives of all the village's shops attended, and staff from Morgans thanked residents for their support and for signing the petitions opposing the store.

Baker Sally Westlake, of Cottage Loaf in the precinct, said she had learned that the developer anticipated a turnover of £1.4 million per year for the new shop, the equivalent of £27,000 per week.

She said: "We survive on less than a quarter of that. If we lost 10 per cent of our business, we could not keep going."

Quoting the developer's assessment that the new retail unit would create 30 jobs for the village, Alison Soars pointed out that jobs would be lost if existing shops closed.

Trevor Jones said: "This is a lovely village with excellent shops.

"If the shops in the precinct closed, people at that end of the village would have to travel."

Many Kent Road residents spoke about the danger from motorists using their road as a rat run to bypass the traffic lights. Miranda Jones, of Kent Road, said she had a family of three and had already nearly lost her two-year-old in the speeding traffic.

North Somerset councillor Tom Leimdorfer admitted that no money is available to solve the problem, and it could be five years before anything is done.

He said: "The Highways Authority says there has not been a fatality on that road. Near misses are not enough."

A passionate appeal against additional traffic was made by Alice Richards of Hill Park, who said it had taken her 20 minutes that evening to drive the quarter mile from her home to the meeting.

One of the few supporters of the proposed retail outlet was a resident from Cobthorn Way, who said a shop was urgently needed at her end of the village.

Tom Leimdorfer gave a lucid explanation of the planning procedure and confirmed that a planning application for the site has not yet been submitted.

He suggested that village shopkeepers should form a trade association to look at ways to encourage residents to shop locally and confirmed he would facilitate efforts towards this.

Before the meeting, attended by more than 120 villagers, residents inspected plans of the proposed development and questioned Richard Farrow, a director of Land & Buildings Ltd, who bought the site a year ago, the architect Mark Watkins, and John Sneddon of Tetlow King Planning.