A £100m plan to build a large-scale USA-style retirement village has unexpectedly been granted planning permission.

The 350-home and 100-bedroom care home complex to be built at Mount Leven Farm, near Yarm, will be one of the first of its kind in the UK.

A previous planning application had been decisively rejected and Stockton Borough Council officers had recommended the new, redrawn plan also be refused because it will be built on protected 'green wedge' land.

However, councillors voted the application through by six votes to five after several councillors who voted against last time either abstained or changed their mind.

Leader of the Conservative group and former council leader, Ken Lupton, said he had been persuaded the retirement village could be an improvement in services for elderly people and the roads would now be improved in the area as part of the plan.

The village, for the over-55s, will consist of one and two-bedroom bungalows priced from £140,000 to £250,000 and there will be a doctor’s surgery, cafe, restaurant, gym and swimming pool.

Javed Majid, of Maher Developments, who wants to build the homes, said: “This is fantastic news for the Tees Valley. The investment and job creation will be a major boost for the Tees Valley economy and we look forward to making big announcements in the coming months.”

James Wharton, Conservative MP for Stockton South, said approving the plan was a mistake.

He said: “Stockton Council has now passed over 1,000 new houses for Yarm increasing the size of this small town by 25 per cent in a few years. I am staggered at the scale of development.”