A BID to put tables and chairs outside a bakery in Frinton’s Connaught Avenue has sparked anger after it was given the go-ahead without being debated in public.

Chain bakery Greggs has been given the green light to put furniture, surrounded by a barrier, outside its store.

Town councillors and residents are angry that the tables and chairs will stick out two metres into the town’s iconic shopping avenue.

Frinton Residents' Association chairman Neil Churcher said: “Once again our council officials, who are paid by us, have made a decision which, in my view, is detrimental to the majority of residents.”

Last month, town councillor Vanda Watling claimed the move would set a “very dangerous precedent” if was given the green light.

The application was rubber-stamped by Tendring Council planning officers without being debated in public by the planning committee.

A council spokesman said: “The application fell within the scale and desription which can be dealt with by officers under delegated powers.”

No-one at Greggs was available for comment.