Thirsk Auction Mart is to submit a detailed plan for a new site on the edge of the market town.

Following 12 months of negotiation and planning, the mart is to lodge a plan with Hambleton District Council next week to move to a site off the A19 bypass where it meets Blakey Lane.

A spokesman for the mart, Tony Whiting, said that it was expected the plan for the 20 acre site would be approved.

The auction mart has operated on its present site on Station Road for more than a century. A new purpose-built mart just off the bypass will be created and would take the business and lorries away from a residential area where it has been built up piecemeal, he said.

The site at Station Road is owned by Farmway and has been used by three operators, the Farmway country store, Todd's builders' merchants and the mart.

Farmway hoped to move to a new site on Thirsk Industrial Estate, but so far its plan has not been approved.

Persimmon Homes has obtained outline permission for 150 homes on the full Station Road site.

"Contrary to rumour, the mart is not closing down or moving yet, but will continue trading from the present site until the new one is ready," said Mr Whiting.

Rodney Cordingley, manager of the auction mart, said in a statement: "Before naming this as our preferred site, we considered and rejected others, including industrial land at Dalton Airfield and land off the A1 at Sinderby. The site at Blakey Lane is clearly the best, both in location and in cost.

"A detailed study by specialist consultants has concluded that this site would be very suitable, not just for a one-day-a-week auction market, but also as a centre for small businesses linked to the rural economy and also for a place which could provide badly-needed training opportunities.

"We think this is an excellent idea and we are in discussions with a potential partner to provide such training.

"We expect to put forward a detailed planning application in early September setting out full information about the strong justification for the choice of the Blakey Lane site. We will also give further details about our proposed partnership with a training provider.

"Once the application has been lodged, everyone concerned will have an opportunity to review the information we have obtained."