PROTESTORS have fought plans for a sixth large cold store to be built on a greenfield site near Boroughbridge.

Members of a Harrogate Borough Council area planning committee refused the application.

They backed a planning officer's recommendation that the project for Reed Boardall, which already has five cold stores at Becklands Close, Bar Lane, Roecliffe, should be turned down.

Linda Potter, who spoke against the plan as chairman of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England and Roecliffe residents, pointed out that the greenfield site was not designated for industrial use and lay outside the development boundary.

Urging the committee to refuse the scheme, Ms Potter said councillors should take account of people living there. "It is a nightmare situation. The people living here have no peace at any time of night or day. Their homes are devalued and they feel they have been ignored," she said.

Gerry Fitzmaurice, the council's special projects officer, gave support for the plan, saying expansion would create 85 more jobs.

Mr Fitzmaurice said if the development did not happen at the site, it would have to happen somewhere nearby.

Planning officer Neville Watson recommended refusal, saying councillors had to make a balance the concerns of protecting the countryside and allowing the company to expand.