A GRASS airstrip is set to become the focus of a fourth public inquiry in as many years after a council launched enforcement action to limit the size of aircraft using the airfield.

Pilots at Bagby Airfield, near Thirsk, which is used by hobby pilots, high-profile jockeys and utility repair firms, said they felt Hambleton District Council was persecuting the controversy-plagued site and wasting taxpayers' money.

The latest inquiry, which is expected to be held in September, follows the airfield carrying out work to repair a runway taxi strip, which they claim has made the taxiway narrower and had been verbally approved by a senior planning officer.

After the authority launched enforcement action over the work, claiming the taxiway had been widened and would enable larger and noisier aircraft to use the airfield, the site's owner Martin Scott issued an appeal, which has triggered the inquiry.

In 2012, the local government ombudsman condemned the council for "an extreme and most serious failure of planning administration" after losing control over the use of airfield site.

Last year, following a third public inquiry over the site as the council to attempted to limit flight movements to 3,700 annually, a Government planning inspector had ruled the grass airstrip could be used at least 7,228 times a year without breaching planning control.

While the council had declined to outline its strategy for regaining planning control over the airfield, a spokesman said it had issued another enforcement notice to protect residents from potential noise from an increase in size of aircraft that may use the airfield.

It said the taxiway work meant the airfield could accommodate more and larger aircraft, which could lead to an increase in the number of aircraft causing disturbance to residents.

He said: "Safeguarding the local amenity remains a key concern for the council."

The airfield's manager, Steve Hoyle, said the council's claims about widening the taxiway were ludicrous as the edge of the previous taxiway remained visible.

He said: "If you pull the grass up beside the new taxiway, you can see the old one that had been there for over 30 years.

"We haven't done anything other than remedial work and will never be able to take planes larger than six-seater Cessnas because of the length of the runway."

Mr Hoyle added: "Every time we breathe or do anything we have the council here - we don't do anything without asking."