AN AUCTION mart dating back to the mid-nineteenth century has closed and been sold to a vegetarian food manufacturer.

Stokesley Auction Mart, in Station Road, is believed to have been founded in the 1850s.

Marlow Foods, which has a Quorn-producing factory next to the mart, said yesterday it had bought the site.

The company's managing director, Nick Hughes, said: "We can confirm we have acquired the adjacent land next to the Marlow Foods site, which used to be a cattle market.

"We have no immediate plans for development, but purchasing this land does give us opportunity for development in the future."

The site was sold to Marlow by Penrith Farmers and Kidd's, whose managing director, Richard Morris, said: "All marts have been struggling since foot-and-mouth.

"As livestock numbers have reduced, there has been pressure on the mart and this was a natural consequence."

Mr Morris said there were a number of other marts within a 20-mile radius which could serve the Stokesley area, but others felt it would cause problems for farmers.

John Seymour, a Stokesley farmer and prominent NFU member, said: "There is a huge gap now, when you look at it geographically. It is removing a very important facility for farmers in the area."

The mart was one of two in Stokesley until the Seventies, when the town mart, as it was known, was amalgamated with the Station Road site. In the same decade, Guisborough mart closed and was also taken over by the Station Road mart.

Mike Richardson, a district councillor and former partner with Armstrong Richardson, of Stokesley, has a long association with the auction mart.

His grandfather was an auctioneer and one of those responsible for forming a limited company at the mart in the Twenties. Mr Richardson's father, Edwin, was also secretary for many years.

He said: "It's sad that another link with the past and with traditional agriculture has disappeared.