Planners have rejected a scheme to create a transport interchange that developers said would cut congestion on the Avon Ring Road in North Bristol.

Those behind the proposal said the 240-car parking space multi-modal interchange (MMI) was intended to reduce the number of car journeys on the ring road.

But South Gloucestershire councillors said the proposal for a site next to Wick Wick roundabout would end up causing even more problems for drivers if it had been allowed.

The consortium of developers of the Emersons Green East (EGE) scheme – a project to build homes, a primary school and business, leisure and retail space – made the application.

They wanted to put the MMI on a narrow piece of land between the M4 and the ring road.

But members of the council's development control committee threw out the scheme, saying an already congested roundabout was the wrong place to build it.

An MMI is different to a park and ride, which is served by a dedicated bus service, because existing bus services are used to pick up and drop off passengers.

"It's madness to have traffic from Yate, Emersons Green, Coalpit Heath and other areas converging on a roundabout that is already operating at full capacity," said Westerleigh councillor Claire Young.

"This would have drawn more people along the A432 through Coalpit Heath and Kendleshire and the gridlock at the roundabout would encourage more commuters to use the surrounding country lanes as rat runs.

"We strongly support park and rides to tackle congestion but this was the wrong location."

Emersons Green councillor James Hunt said: "This proposal would have had an unacceptable effect on the highway network by increasing congestion even more and reducing road safety."

Councillors also said no agreement had been signed with bus operators to serve the site.

"Of the existing services, the X42 is often full at peak hours before it even reaches Coalpit Heath, let alone Wick Wick, and the 342 suffers serious delays due to picking up numerous people as it travels through town. The bus services are certainly not frequent and reliable as the council's policies require," said Frampton Cotterell councillor Pat Hockey.

Emersons Green's Colin Hunt said: "If people aren't guaranteed a seat on the bus then why would they park at this MMI? The developer couldn't answer this."

The Wick Wick application was put forward as an alternative to an MMI at EGE.

But one could still be promoted at Emersons Green as a way of reducing the impact of traffic going into Bristol around the EGE development once it is completed.