ANYONE interested in an auction mart making a success of an out of town move should look no further than the situation in Thirsk.

Its Farmer’s Auction Mart moved from Thirsk town centre to new premises next to the A19 and A168 in 2006.

The 20-acre site now hosts all sorts of functions, meetings and large scale events, and has allowed the mart to build its reputation for selling quality cattle.

Crucially for the business and residents, the site’s expanse of parking and its excellent transport links mean wagons have easy access.

Up the road from Thirsk in Darlington, mart bosses have finally agreed a similar move to a promising out of town site.

It has been a long-running saga, with twists and turns at every stage, but a deal has now been reached which will see the mart get its 21st Century facility in a much improved location which can attract further investment. A key site will also freed up close to the town centre for a planned rail development which could transform the town, and residents infuriated with noise and odours from the mart get some peace and quiet.

Congratulations to all those involved in the project – mart, council, MP – for persevering for so many years to get this deal across the line when it must have felt like it might never happen.

In a week which has seen Darlington’s Binns store kept open for a further 18 months, it is another piece of much-welcome good news for the town.