ENGLISH Heritage has backed a campaign to stop the extension of quarrying beside an important Neolithic site.

Tarmac Northern has announced its intention to submit a planning application to extend the existing Nosterfield Quarry eastwards towards Ladybridge Farm, close to Thornborough Henges, near Ripon, North Yorkshire.

The site contains the greatest concentration of late Neolithic and early Bronze Age henges, or circular monuments, in the country.

English Heritage has now backed local campaigners in their attempt to stop the planning application from going ahead.

A statement on its website says: "Until the archaeological value of the landscape surrounding the henges is better understood, English Heritage is firmly opposed to any further gravel extraction in the Ladybridge Farm area."

The move has been welcomed by the Friends of Thornborough action group, which said in a statement: "The value of our heritage is worth more than the profit on the gravel."

English Heritage is funding Dr Jan Harding, of Newcastle University, to undertake archaeological research on the Thornborough landscape.