THE owners of an off-road adventure business have hit back at objectors who say they should not be allowed to make it a permanent venture.

Moorland Adventure Sport, based at Bickley Rigg Farm at Langdale End, near Scarborough, gives people the chance to drive 4x4 vehicles off-road on more than 80 miles of forest tracks.

The company has run the venture, called Langdale Quest, for the past ten years under temporary planning approvals. It has now applied to make it permanent.

However, planning officials at the North York Moors National Park Authority have recommended that permission be refused.

A number of local residents have objected, as well as three parish councils in the area. They say the forest is being damaged by the activity and local communities are being disturbed.

But husband and wife team Andy and Emma Young, who own the business, say most of the complaints sent in to the authority are about the use of 4x4s in the national park in general and do not relate to their application.

Mr Young said: "Anybody anywhere in the national park that has seen a four-wheel drive has made a complaint about the application and it has been included in our file. That is totally unfair.

"Without facilities like the Quest, people will search out other places to go to fulfil their recreational demands.

"If the Quest was to close, the levels of use of the green lanes by Land Rovers would drastically increase.

"The last thing the authority members want is our customers going out and using the green lanes.

"It would be a major backward step after we spent half a million pounds developing and promoting the Quest."

If planning permission is refused, a winding-down period for the business has been agreed. Mr Young said this could be between two and three years.

However, he plans to appeal if the decision goes against the company.

The authority's chief planning officer, Val Dilcock, said: "It is considered that the benefits of this facility - in terms of providing a contained location for motorised recreation and for the local economy - do not outweigh the adverse impacts in terms of damage to the forest environment, disturbance to local residents and conflict with other park users, which are incompatible with park purposes."

The authority will make a decision on the plans on Thursday.