PLANNERS have given the go-ahead for a multi-million pound housing scheme to be built on the site of an engineering factory in North Yorkshire.

Persimmon Homes is being allowed to construct 61 homes on the site of Allerton Engineering, on Romanby Road, Northallerton, after members of Hambleton District Council approved the application.

The decision signals the end of an era for Allerton Engineering, which has operated from Romanby Road for nearly 50 years.

The structural engineering, bridge building and steel company now plans to relocate to the town's Darlington Road Industrial Estate and bosses say the move will create dozens of skilled engineering jobs.

Managing director Bob Dickens said: "The decision is a major boost to our workforce, the town and the local community.

"It enables us to push ahead with our major investment.

"It secures the jobs of our existing workforce and enables the creation of many new jobs and business opportunities.

"Our new facility at Darlington Road Industrial Estate will be state-of-the-art, efficient and worker-friendly.

"It provides us with the opportunity to treble our capacity and meet the quality needs of our customers worldwide, whether it is for bridges, cranes, plate girders or offshore structure."

Approval of the housing scheme had been delayed for some months following a row with residents of nearby Bridge Terrace, who stood to lose their rented gardens.

An agreement was reached in October, allowing them to buy the gardens from Persimmon.

Thirsk-based Severfield-Reeve Projects will now design and build Allerton Engineering's new facility at an estimated cost of £3m.