AN ENGINEER from Chepstow is furious that his new £130,000 luxury apartment on Chepstow High Street will be directly above a new branch of Done bookmakers.

When Alex Rippon, 28, recently bought his new pad, he was told by his estate agency that he would be living above an Edinburgh Wool Shop. However Mr Rippon soon realised this was not the case.

He said: "Last week a letter came through the post which was addressed to Done Bookmakers. I did a little research on the internet and discovered that a deal was already completed for the bookmakers to move into the premises.

"I think it is ridiculous that there has been so much money spent upgrading the town centre and yet they are now going to ruin it by putting an ugly-looking bookmakers in the town.

"I think it is going to cause myself and the other people living in the apartments above the shop to suffer from increased noise and cigarette smoke filtering up into where we live."

The shop will be located in the Town Gate Mews which is a Grade two listed building. There are six apartments above the shop floor and it is directly opposite Herbert Lewis.

Mr Rippon said: "I have been told by the authorities to make sure I have white blinds in my windows so I do not spoil the look of the building. It is such hypocrisy that they are telling me this and yet they are willing to allow such an eyesore to open on the street."

There are currently 320 Done betting shops based across the UK, making Done Bookmakers the largest, independent bookmaking chain in the UK. The Done Bookmakers empire began in 1967 when brothers Fred and Peter Done started in business together.

Peter Done once said: "We identified a gap in the business, there was a need to put an emphasis on customer service. You could say our approach was 'before its time' - certainly for the betting business."