An expanding city dental surgery has seen plans to replace its garden with a new car park hit a stumbling block.

Patnam Elphick and Associates, in Earlham Road, wants to build a new car park in order to cope with an increase in patients as the surgery gets bigger.

Plans would see four more car spaces, two motorcycle bays and four bicycle slots added.

The private practice has already seen plans approved by Norwich City Council to extend its first floor so that it can welcome more patients.

As a condition of the approval, the surgery was told it would need to build a new car park.

A decision should have been made by the end of last month, but now the city council's highways team has objected to it, ordering the surgery to resubmit its plans.

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Concerns were raised that the car park's entrance and exit ramp could end up damaging cars, that motorcycles might not be able to use it due to its gravel surface and that the visibility of pedestrians on the pavement could be dangerous.

It also said the surgery had submitted "inadequate" construction information and added that an electric vehicle charging point should be in the plans.

The council said a cycle rack planned for the site "may not be well suited to customer requirements" and said parking discipline may be "poor" due to the gravel surface.

According to bosses at the surgery, it has a considerable waiting list which would begin to accept new patients once expansion plans are complete.

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There are also plans to employ two more members of full-time staff.

However, the city council's transport department asked that more car parking spaces were provided if the plans went ahead.

A spokeswoman for Patnam, Elphick and Associates said this was the third time a plan for the parking had been refused by the council's highway department and said the business was "trying to get in touch with them".