DEVELOPERS have applied for planning permission to build a large £100m industrial estate next to a picturesque County Durham village.
The plans for the 100-acre site next to Heighington have been submitted to Darlington Borough Council.
London-based Merchant Place hopes to build four distribution warehouses, with offices and parking spaces on empty farmland in Heighington Lane.
The firm claims the plan could create up to 1,000 jobs.
The project's backers claim that the site has been earmarked for development in Government planning policy for ten years.
But villagers are concerned that the new buildings could damage the area's rural character, and Heighington Parish Council is expected to enter a formal objection.
The application will be considered by the planning committee within the next two months.
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