Plans for a dog breeding business have been turned down after noise complaints from villagers.

Yvonne Bartram applied for planning permission to change the use of a house and garage at Southery, near Downham Market.

Her application included a noise management plan for the four-bed property, near the A10 on Mill Drove.

But West Norfolk Council has turned down the bid after objections from people living nearby.

Deborah Quinlan described the noise as "distressing" on the council's planning portal.

"It actually sounds like a pack of dogs that won't stop," she added.

"You cannot get away from the noise if you live closely to this address."

Dr Fabio Stabile posted: "Dogs bark on and off through the day and frequently at night. In particular one dog howls and screams all night.

"Occasionally a lady can be heard screaming at these dogs to be quiet."

Mrs Dempsey said: "This application has caused significant discussion and division in the Village.

"It is concerning that anyone rising objection toward this application are targeted on social media (Southery Life Facebook group) and charged with initiating 'witch-hunt' against the applicants. "

The council received 10 objections and 15 supporting comments.

Neil Cutforth, who described himself as neutral,  said the noise had not caused him "undue disturbance".

But he added: "This is a very divisive issue in the village and I would expect that council officers would consider holding the application in abeyance whilst existing noise is formally monitored."

A council community safety and noise nuisance officer said three noise complaints had been received and there were eight complaints on the planning file.

They added: "There are significant comments regarding the impact on residential amenity, therefore the applicant needs to submit information to show how this can be addressed to prevent/significantly reduce issues in order for us to support the proposal."

The planning portal says the application has been refused.