FOR many people in North Yorkshire, it will have come as a surprise that a neolithic monument of importance equivalent to that of Stonehenge lies in their midst.

The Thornborough henges are indeed older than the Wiltshire stone circles but crucially their actual appearance today is much less spectacular than their Southern cousins. To the observer on the ground there is not much to see. The henges are barely discernable and only from the air is their significance apparent.

So the quarrying and landfill operations taking place nearby have continued without much comment, until the last couple of years that is. An archaeological investigation by Dr Jan Harding of Newcastle University, which established the full extent of its historical importance, has now set the parties with an interest in this landscape at odds with each other.

On one side we have Tarmac Northern, which operates the quarry operations nearby and wants to extend those operations close to, and surrounding, the henges. On the other we have the local residents and the archaeologists, who want to protect this undoubtedly special place from what they see as further destruction.

In the middle we have North Yorkshire County Council, which ultimately determines where further quarrying takes place. Its impartiality is, however, somewhat compromised by the operation of its own landfill site just a stone's throw from the central henge.

As and when a formal planning application is submitted to the county council for extension of the quarrying operations, there is likely to be an almighty showdown. In the meantime the sniping between the parties will continue. This week's Time Flyers television programme adds fuel to the fire.

The call by the Hambleton branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England for a public inquiry into the issues surrounding quarrying operations and the henges is unorthodox and, in practical terms, rather difficult to envisage. But it is evident of the considerable unease about the Thornborough situation. A compromise is needed between the parties to protect what must properly be protected.