A FARMER, whose herd was wiped out by foot-and-mouth disease, has had plans to rebuild his business with a motorbike track scuppered by town planners.

Ian Robson was hoping to keep his firm afloat by running a scrambling circuit on his former grazing land at Edmondsley, near Chester-le-Street.

But councillors refused his application following objections from residents and fears that the resulting noise would cause disruption. His father, Billy Robson, said the planning committee's decision had let his son down.

He said: "On the one hand Tony Blair is telling us to diversify to get over the foot-and-mouth thing, but on the other the council are turning down our application.

"I have been out there numerous times with a noise monitor and it barely registers to be honest.

"I have no idea why they've refused it.

"What are we supposed to do now - go on the dole? "We are told to do bed and breakfast, hot air balloons, backward somersaults, you name it - but we come up with a good idea and it's knocked back.

"This is an area of rough ground that is ideal for scrambling. Where are the kids supposed to go now with their bikes?"

The site already hosts up to 14 scrambling events a year, but Mr Robson wanted to hold two events a week.

In a report Chester-le-Street District Council's planning services manager Tom Watson acknowledged that Mr Robson had lost all of his stock and was depending on the scheme to keep his business afloat.

But he said that the council had received several letters objecting to the scheme although environmental health officers who took noise readings said it could not be classed as a statutory nuisance. He said: "The proposed use would be detrimental to the amenities of residents living both in the immediate vicinity of the site and further afield on account of the noise intrusion from motorcycle engine revving.

"The proposed storage unit would be detrimental to the visual appearance of the open countryside."