THE firm behind a major development on a landmark site in York, which has been built higher than planners allowed, has a month to agree changes to the scheme or face legal action.

City of York Council's north-east area planning sub-committee again put off making a decision on the new Mecca Bingo development in Fishergate yesterday, to give time for the applicant to negotiate with planning officers.

Entertainment giant Rank, which is behind the development, had to submit a bid for fresh planning consent after officers realised a new design meant the building was up to 1.8 metres higher than they had originally agreed.

The developer said the extra height resulted from the foundations having to be altered to protect significant archaeological remains on the site.

A group of residents of Fishergate House, which overlooks the site, were at the meeting to raise objections.

Stephanie Leeman, an architect herself, said: "We now have a cheap and nasty design, which does nothing 'to break down the scale and soften the appearance', as quoted in a previous committee report, as did the previous drawings.

"It appears that Rank have now gained 1,800 cubic metres of space and we have gained an urban disaster."

Graham Murdoch, Rank's town planning consultant, told the committee that about 70 per cent of the building was only 80 millimetres higher than planned and that the remainder was higher by about 800 millimetres.

George Johnson, the developer's architect, said an unexpected drop in the ground level of about 1,300 millimetres at the back of the site on Blue Bridge Lane had added to the increase in height.

Coun Ken King said: "I am quite angry about the way the developer has reacted over this. We have got to send a clear message out to developers that we are not going to put up with this kind of attitude. "Quite frankly I would like to tell them to rip it down, but I don't think that will be possible."

Members unanimously supported two linked recommendations from their officers.

They agreed to defer making a decision until their next meeting on January 15 to allow officers to negotiate with the developer to "bring back recommendations to reduce the impact of the height and elevation changes on the current application".

They also agreed that if these negotiations failed they would start enforcement action over the materials used on the building.

It emerged during the meeting that, although there had been a verbal agreement over the building materials to be used, the developer had never received written consent - a standard condition before starting work.

Updated: 11:52 Friday, December 13, 2002