Thirsk auction mart's bid to move to a 20-acre site south of the town has been backed by Askham Bryan College, near York.

About £2.5m would be invested by the mart in the site, which would in include not just a new mart with two auction rings and an undercover animal handling area, a canteen and parking, but also business units and an outreach centre of the college.

The college has agreed in principle to set up a learning and skills centre at the new site off Blakey Lane, south of Thirsk by-pass at its junction with the A19.

It hopes to start training courses for young people and adults by September 2005. Courses could include not just agriculture and horticulture, but also countryside and the environment, engineering, tourism and customer service.

David Cooper, deputy principal, said the proposed site was strategically located to take advantage of major road and rail links and was an innovative scheme.

"This will encourage participation in learning and training and lead to an increase in the local skills base and consequently enhanced employment opportunities," he said.

"It would prove the opportunity to small businesses in the area for easy-to-access skills training, alongside the development of vocational courses."

His comments are made in a letter which accompanied the mart's detailed planning application, which has been submitted to Hambleton District Council.

Also accompanying the application was a feasibility study by Carlisle-based Adam Wellings Consulting and the Thirsk Regeneration Initiative. That study points out that the number of auction marts in Yorkshire and the Humber has fallen from 23 to 18 since 1999.

It shows how Craven Cattle Mart in Skipton has provided a case study for the way marts cannot just survive but develop into "a new type of rural hub". Craven College provides training courses at the mart and rural businesses have also moved into units on the site.

A report by property consultants, Carter Jonas, says the chosen site at Blakey Lane has several advantages and provides the opportunity to create a substantially improved gateway into Thirsk from the south, using strategic landscaping.

It is also large enough to allow for small workshop and office units for businesses that relate to agricultural services.

Rodney Cordingley, the mart's manager said: "We looked at potential sites on industrial land, including those at Dalton Airfield, and also land beside the A1 at Sinderby. These have been rejected on grounds of location and cost. The new site has been chosen after very careful investigation and is by far the best available.

"It is only a mile from the town centre, yet it won't be seen from Thirsk or Sowerby because it will be hidden from view by the bank of the by-pass. We want it to be a focal point, not just for the rural community, but the community as a whole.

"We also wish to see training opportunities and, in this respect, the strong support for the site from Askham Bryan College is extremely encouraging. "We would like to see workshop units on the site for agricultural businesses and it could also be used for festivals and rallies, so boosting the local economy still further."

The mart's chairman, Harry Woodhead, added: "With the mart at Ripon now closed permanently, we feel it is more vital than ever that Thirsk continues to have its own.

"We are committed to it having a sustainable future, something we are sure the new location, with its enhanced, purposed-built facilities, would provide."

Persimmon Homes has obtained outline planning permission for about 150 homes, a quarter of which will be low cost housing, on the mart's present site at Thirsk.