AN attempt by a troubled riding school to go into the house building business looks likely to fall foul of strict rules on development in green belts.

Belmont Farm, on the edge of Harrogate, where a green wedge separates the town from Knaresborough, wants to turn the site of its riding school and livery stables over to a housing development.

It has asked Harrogate Borough Council for planning consent for four four-bedroom homes after demolition of most of the buildings on the site.

A spokesman for Belmont Farm said: "Economically, the riding stables have failed.

"The riding experience has been prejudiced by the lack of safe off-road rides for hacking."

He said the condition of the stables and outbuildings was poor, with areas where roofs had collapsed.

The council's planning department has come out strongly against the homes scheme because the site is in a statutory green belt.

Area planning officer Anne Smith said the rules were against homes being built there, and she was worried about the possibility of setting a precedent if the go-ahead was given.

She said: "There are numerous instances of buildings associated with agriculture in both the green belt and wider countryside, which if replaced by housing, would result in unacceptable harm."

Mrs Smith is urging councillors to reject the plans when they debate the issues at a meeting today.