A DECISION is due this week on whether an auction mart can relocate from its home of almost a hundred years.

The application to move Thirsk Auction Mart to a new 20-acre site off the A19, at Blakey Lane, was deferred last month so councillors could make a site visit.

It was felt Thirsk Farmers' Auction Mart had not made a strong enough case for relocation from its site at Station Road.

The applicants said the present site was not large enough for the auction mart to expand and remain viable

Because the Blakey Lane site falls outside the development limits for Thirsk and Sowerby, any new development must "meet the social and economic needs of rural communities" to be acceptable.

In a letter to Tim Wood, Hambleton District Council planning officer, the applicant's agent John Goodwin, of Carter Jonas Property Consultants, said: "It is likely that constraints and limitations of the existing site would eventually lead to a serious decline in business because of loss of confidence by users."

In his report to councillors, Mr Wood writes: "There is a wealth of evidence that the retention of an auction mart is important of the agricultural economy. There are benefits to the operators of the Thirsk Auction Mart to operate from a site that allows greater flexibility of use and an ability to respond to the changing agricultural economy."

Plans include two auction rings, an outreach educational centre for Askham Bryan College at York and a site manager's house. The application will be heard at a meeting on Thursday.