TEMPORARY approval was given yesterday for a farmers' market at Northallerton.

Hambleton planning committee backed the development at the Sam Turner site in Darlington Road, despite objections from traders who claimed it could damage the existing chartered market and shops in the town centre.

The company, which offered a site to Cledale farmers' market, was given conditional permission for 12 months to have no more than 20 stalls on up to 14 days in the year, but only on Sundays or Bank Holidays.

Sam Turner was requested to submit a planning application for farmers' markets which have been held on the site since April, and some committee members claimed the events were creating serious parking problems.

Planning officers said, however, that a temporary permission would allow parking to be monitored and enable the council to judge whether the farmers' markets were having any commercial impact on the town centre.

Objectors claimed the events were not conforming to farmers' market guidelines because some stalls were selling more than local farm produce including factory-made fleece jackets, exotic fruits, cards and candles.

Mr Paul Winn, chairman of the regular traders, thought the ideal solution would be to integrate the Cledale events into Northallerton or one of the two other markets controlled by Hambleton.

But Mr Steve Quartermain, director of planning, said this had already been suggested to the farmers' market organisers, who preferred the Sam Turner site because they felt the normal market trading conditions would be unsuitable for their occasional events.