DIVERTING a public footpath in a Hutton Rudby conservation area would give the new owners of a cottage direct but private access to their nearby paddock - but it could also turn the small field into a prime house building site.

Despite this apparent dilemma, Rudby Parish Council decided to support an application to divert the footpath at Pear Tree Cottage, in North End.

The cottage and its paddock was on the property market for some time, but was recently sold. It is cut off from its paddock by a public footpath, which leads from North End to an area known as Honeymans' field and then down through woods to the River Leven.

North Yorkshire County Council has received a planning application to divert the footpath slightly uphill, around the other side of the paddock. This would result in the footpath coming out further up North End, near some other houses.

Despite fears from some councillors that this move could free up the paddock for house building, the proposal was eventually supported by five councillors; six abstained.

Chairman Coun John Richardson said: "The land was contested earlier this year when someone wanted to build a house on it. It is a nice area and there is an attractive wall there."

Coun Stan Lennox said: "I understand the owners want to keep it as a wild garden. This application would solve the separation between the house and garden."

When Coun Irene MacDonald asked if a guarantee had been made that the paddock would not been built on, Coun Wendy Deans said that was a separate issue as to whether the path diversion should be supported.

Coun Bob Hutchinson was concerned that the position of the path would be an important factor in any future application to build a house on the paddock. "This is in a conservation area and a lot of people use the footpath," he stressed.

The councillors were uncertain whether the paddock would be classified as green field or as an in-fill site.