COUNCILLORS deciding on the future of a controversial abattoir were played the cries of sheep waiting for slaughter that could be heard from a young girl’s bedroom at night.

Campaigner Neville Brown recorded the sheep and lambs as well as the constant noise of an extraction fan from the slaughterhouse in Boosbeck High Street.

Residents from the east Cleveland village have been seeking the closure of the business since it reopened three years ago.

Today (Tuesday) members of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council’s cabinet heard the noises and were shown photographs of skips overflowing with sheep heads and guts at the Banaras Halal Meats (BHM) site.

Council leader George Dunning said the authority was in negotiations with the owner of the site and a deadline of September 30 to come to a financial agreement suitable to both parties in order to resolve the situation had been set.

Councillor Norman Pickthall, the council's cabinet member for corporate resources, said that if the company failed to reach an agreement by the authority’s full council meeting on October 9 would decide whether to pursue a discontinuance order, which could force the business to close down, or issue a compulsory purchase order for the premises.

Mr Brown, who lives just metres away from the site, told members that living next to the abattoir was unbearable with the constant noise and smells coming from the premises, that is open 24 hours a day, all year round.

He said: “It is three years that this has taken to get to the council – it’s wrong and it shouldn’t be happening. It should be on an industrial estate."

Playing a recording from his mobile telephone to the members, he said: “This is a recording of sheep waiting to be slaughtered – this goes on all night long. This is wrong - we want to know how much longer we have to put up with it?”

Councillor Dunning told the 50 residents who attended the meeting in Redcar that he believed an abattoir should never have been allowed to open in a village or town centre, but the authority was forced to abide by planning law when it granted permission in 2011.

Former Boosbeck resident Gaynor Sullivan told members she had sold her house at a loss as she was so desperate to get away.

Independent councillor Mary Lanigan urged the cabinet to issue a compulsory purchase order for the land if an agreement could not be reached by September 30 and not take it to full council, in an attempt to speed up the process for residents.

However, members unanimously agreed to adhere to the deadline and make a formal decision on Thursday, October 9.