PROTESTORS broke into spontaneous applause when planners turned down a scheme for a huge cold store on the edge of their village.

Residents living in Roecliffe, near Boroughbridge, successfully objected to a scheme by Reed Boardall Cold Storage to build a 22,500sq metre cold store. It would have been built alongside five existing cold stores near the A1 motorway.

Residents, some of them displaying "don't lose our countryside" posters outside an area planning meeting at Knaresborough, expressed their delight at the decision.

Councillors overwhelmingly voted against the scheme which had been recommended for refusal by planning officer Neville Watson.

Mr Watson said the size of the building would be visually intrusive in the countryside.

Boroughbridge Town Council and Roecliffe Parish Council also objected to the plan.

The development would have created 85 jobs. At present, 256 people are employed on the site.