A POPULAR children's play area could face the axe after councillors refused planning permission last night.

Antony Tagliamonti and Imran Zafar spent £40,000 revamping the garden of Costa Coffee in Buckhurst Hill after they took over the franchise a year ago.

The refurbishment at the Queens Road café included swings, a playhouse and a slide, for which the pair sought retrospective planning permission in September.

But district councillors have rejected the bid, despite more than 1,500 customers signing a petition to save the equipment, saying the play area caused an 'unacceptable loss of amenity to neighbouring properties'.

Residents of Princes Road - whose properties back onto the yard - objected to the plan, complaining of noise and children overlooking their gardens.