A MOTOCROSS track owner has vowed to reduce bike noise after restarting sessions against the wishes of local residents.

Steve Harrison has lodged an appeal after Stockton Borough Council turned down his application for a certificate of lawfulness for Riverside Motocross.

Mr Harrison, who claimed that the track at Urlay Nook Road, near Eaglescliffe, has been in use for more than ten years, is legally allowed to continue sessions until that appeal is heard.

Egglescliffe Parish Council and residents from the nearby Orchard and Hunter's Green estates have objected to the plans on the grounds of noise and air pollution, as well as a possible increase in traffic to and from the site on the A67.

Mr Harrison today said that he had taken steps to reduce noise disturbance.

He said: "I admit they were noisy at times before. I have made the more powerful bikes use quieter pipes and we have moved the track round so that the exhausts are not pointing towards the houses when they are using full power.

"This has cost me 30 per cent of my business.

"Unfortunately, the previous owner is now dead, but I can prove this site has been in use for more than ten years.

"I will fight this to the death because I am passionate about what I do. This is the only track like it within a 100-mile radius and I am providing a service.

"If this place closes, it will force more riders on to school fields and the estates.

"The police support what we are doing, and I think the council should be supporting me as well."

Egglescliffe parish councillor Maureen Rigg said residents were worried about noise levels.

She said: "It appears the owner has redesigned the track and put some earth mounds in to try to stop the noise coming out.

"There was a small-scale event there on Sunday, with four or five motorbikes at a time going round, but people are concerned this could escalate."

A spokeswoman for Stockton council was unable to estimate how long the appeal would take, as it is handled by the planning inspectorate, which is an independent body.

Last year, Stockton council enforcement officers discovered Mr Harrison did not have planning permission for the track and told him to submit a retrospective application.

After the local objections, Mr Harrison later withdrew the application, but unsuccessfully applied for a certificate of lawfulness.