A FARMER has won approval to turn his pig sties over to cars and motorbikes, despite opposition from neighbours.

Residents already suffering from noise from Croft Circuit, near Darlington, feared Ian Wilson's plans to turn a pig unit into a garage and repair workshop would give them an even bigger headache.

But Richmondshire District Council agreed to the scheme. Its officials said extra soundproofing could be installed in the farm buildings to reduce noise.

Mr Wilson, who farms at Moorhouse Farm, Dalton-on-Tees, near Darlington, drew up plans for the workshop because of the continuing agricultural crisis which has made pig production uneconomic.

The hours he is able to open his new business may be restricted to try to reduce disturbance to neighbours.

Patrick Earle, the council's planning unit manager, said the authority aimed to agree a set of conditions for operating the garage with Mr Wilson.

He said: "It has been approved in principle, but details of conditions and working hours have still to be worked out.

"The objective will be to find a series of controls that aren't so onerous as to be unreasonable, but do give protection to people in the area."

He said it might be considered reasonable to allow the workshop to operate at weekends when the circuit is hosting a race meeting, when noise from the circuit is likely to drown out noise from the garage.

Residents have complained that the garage would mean they would suffer from even greater disturbance.