A MOORLAND farmer's bid to diversify his business into a holiday enterprise has been given a boost.

The North York Moors National Park planning committee went against a recommendation to refuse permission for a tennis court and children's play area in a former stackyard.

The scheme won retrospective planning permission after farmer Ken Pattinson successfully argued that the scheme was a crucial part of his diversification plans for a holiday industry at his South House Farm, Fylinghthorpe, Whitby.

He said he had received information from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister that permission was not needed for such a scheme.

He said: "Business initiatives are important to the local economy."

Planning officer Mark Hill, who had recomended refusal of the scheme, described it as an alien feature that could create an undesirable precedent.