PERMISSION has been given for a free range poultry unit for 12,000 hens at a site in Boroughbridge.

But planning officials have insisted on a legal agreement from the applicant to have a buffer zone between the development and nearby homes in the Stump Cross area to avoid problems caused by smells. Councillors approved an agreement that should the business fail, buildings are removed from the site.

Boroughbridge Town Council had objected to the plan, which was given the go-ahead at a Harrogate Borough Council area planning meeting in Knaresborough. The town council claimed it was commercial use of land in an agricultural area. A report supporting the application by Mr D Trewitt said the only extra trafficwould be two weekly egg collections and a fortnightly delivery of feed. Hens will be managed on a paddock rotation system and an assurance has been given that the unit will be erected according to stringent standards set by the RSPCA Freedom Food Specification.

Planning officer Mike Warden said the scheme was an appropriate farm diversification enterprise.