A proposal to increase the planning team has been approved by St Albans City and District Council's Cabinet.

At a meeting on Thursday, Cabinet agreed to recruit staff to a number of positions in a bid to keep up with the growing number of planning applications the council receives.

Councillor Julian Daly, Leader and Portfolio Holder for Planning and Conservation at St Albans City and District Council, said: "The council wants to give the public and development companies a good service.

"This is proving hard given the high levels of development activity, ranging from extensions to new homes.

"Therefore we agreed to increase staffing levels to match the long-term increase in planning applications being received by the council."