ALMOST 600 people have won their fight to stop a waste recycling depot near their homes.

R J Howard had applied for permission to build premises for a stone-crushing plant to recycle waste from civil engineering projects, on its site at the former Marston Moor airfield, Tockwith, between York and Wetherby.

Last September, North Yorkshire County Council planning committee voted to defer the application so more information could be provided about the impact of noise and dust from the site.

But at the resumed hearing on Wednesday a majority of councillors voted to refuse the application.

The plan had been recommended for approval by planning officers but Councillor Julian Sturdy, who represents the area on Harrogate Borough Council, told the meeting a number of conditions being imposed were, in his view, impossible to police.