ACTION has been taken to halt illegal building work on a site in North Yorkshire.

Hambleton District Council's planning officers visited Springwell Lane, Northallerton, after a developer began work without permission.

In July, members of the planning committee granted George Wimpey North Yorkshire permission to build 75 houses in Springwell Lane.

The decision came after a six-month battle by the developer, who had to win over Northallerton Town Council and residents as well as members of the committee.

There had been concerns about the original design, traffic problems and access. There were also fears about flooding.

But although the scheme was approved, it was not to go ahead until all legal requirements had been fulfilled.

Planning officer Maurice Cann said work had been halted as this had not yet happened.

He said: "We were in touch over the past few days as we were extremely concerned that work had started on site without planning permission having been issued.

"We stated that legal action would be forthcoming very swiftly to require them to stop work, but George Wimpey voluntarily stopped work on site. We are currently trying to deal with all the outstanding issues so planning permission can be issued."

He said the legal agreement was close to being completed and work may be able to start again as early as next week.