A PLANNING scheme aimed at saving jobs in Northallerton was the centre of a council U-turn this week.

Members of Hambleton's Council planning committee had rejected an application by Northallerton Wholesale Foods to turn part of its industrial estate complex into a retail area.

The committee was told last Thursday that the move was necessary to safeguard jobs in the wake of uncertainty over a big prison catering contract.

But planning officers said the scheme could hit the viability of the High Street and recommended refusal.

And after a long debate, councillors agreed.

Within hours, though, it emerged that vital information which should have been considered by the committee had been "lost."

The decision to refuse has now been suspended and the application will come before the committee again - this time with the missing material.

Planning officer Helen Laws said: "Certain information was not put forward to the committee and this will be presented at a later date."

Committee chairman Coun Geoff Ellis said it was unusual for a planning application to be determined and then brought back.

"But the officer involved said the information should have been discussed by the committee and it was not found until after the meeting had ended.

"The letter contained information about jobs and it would not be fair for a decision to be made without members having knowledge of the contents.

"I had no hesitation in directing that the decision be suspended and that it should come before the next meeting and be considered again.

"It is only right and proper we should do that and for the applicant to have his opinions voiced."

Coun Ellis said the actual application would be the same but it would now have important details of the operation of the business.

"I understand the information was requested some time ago but was not submitted. It eventually came the day before the meeting and somehow it was lost and not presented to the committee. Until I see the letter I can't comment further."

At the meeting, head of development control Maurice Cann said the application for the Standard Way site was contrary to council policy.

"There are opportunities within the retail space in Northallerton for this sort of use," he said.

Coun Tony Hall had sympathy with the applicants. "This is a business which had 85pc of its eggs in one basket and is now looking to other opportunities to employ people," he said. "There is nowhere on the High Street for this kind of business."

Mr Cann said there were town centre premises which could sell the food and meat in which the business dealt.

"You can buy goods on that estate but as an ancillary part of the main wholesale business," he said.

Coun David Smith said there were other retail outlets on the estate, creating inconsistencies.

Mr Cann said: "There are certain types of retailing outside the town centre, such as bulky goods. Food retailing is different and you don't expect to find that on an industrial estate.

"If we start to allow this we are opening the door to other pressures which could hit the town centre.

"Our policy is to protect the vitality of the High Street and if we allow this type of application we will open the floodgates on Standard Way."

Coun Jack Dobson, who is Northallerton mayor, said High Street occupancy was 70pc.

"We can't allow it to be denuded any further," he said. "We must put a stop to it."

In a letter to the council in July, the firm's owner Chris Ivory said his company was urgently seeking new business opportunities to save up to eight jobs.

He wants to convert half his floor area from storage to retail use for catering-size packs.

"We have identified a gap in the market for the supply of fresh meats and other foods at value prices as the growth of the supermarkets has led to the decline of local butchers' shops," he said