OVER 15 years, Angie Ellis has built up one of Herefordshire's most successful shopping venues. Now she says she's ready to move it all over the border after planners left her ambitious expansion project on the shelf.

Angie, who runs Ross Labels, Ross-on-Wye, wanted to put retail warehouses on an old petrol station next to her store. Carpetright, Pets at Home and Halfords were interested.

An all-new McDonald's restaurant came with the deal, replacing a roadside restaurant already on the site.

The scheme - linked to Ross Labels by a covered walkway - had strong support from Advantage West Midlands and other area development agencies as a much-needed investment in the town.

But critics, including Ross Town Council and Brampton Abotts Parish Council, said the scheme was too big and risked taking trade away from the town centre.

Angie watched in frustration as Herefordshire Council's southern area planning sub-committee rejected her expansion by a 6-1 vote.

Despite their admiration for all that Angie had achieved, members did not feel that the development, as proposed, was right for Ross.

Now Angie wonders whether Ross is right for her. After 15 years, she's thinking of selling the Overross site - probably to a food retailer - and moving her store to Monmouth, taking with it nearly one million customers it attracts from around the region each year. Talks are already underway.

First, she will appeal against the sub-committee decision, seeking costs from the council. That could take up to a year, a year in which Angie expected to invest around £250,000 in the town through advertising and promotions.

There was also going to be a continental-style outlet shopping option in the town centre, with likely locations lined up. Funding for that depended on revenue from bringing other retailers onto the Overross site. She may even make more applications to test exactly what the council thinks is right for the site. An office block and storage units could soon come the committee's way.

"It appears that Herefordshire Council is reluctant to support any planning application that includes this land, irrespective of the small scale of development," she said.

"The upgrade of the site is an absolute necessity for the long-term future of Ross Labels in Ross, our proposal to introduce national brand retailers is critical to this growth The expansion had been recommended for rejection because of what it might mean to Ross town centre. This argument was backed by worries about the accessibility of the site and loss of what could be employment land to retail development - both of which went against county planning policy.

The committee raised fears of Ross becoming a doughnut' town with development all around and nothing in the centre. Some members said the scheme could blight the outlook on a designated area of outstanding natural beauty. There were concerns about the "temptations" posed by a McDonald's to children at a nearby school.

Councillor Mark Cunningham said that for all the respect Ross Labels was due, the "very suburban" expansion went too far and was "not right for Ross".