A GYPSY caravan site given a three-year stay of execution could become a permanent fixture in countryside near Darlington if an appeal is successful.

The private-Gypsy site just outside Hurworth, near Darlington, was given a three year temporary permission for two residential caravans and two touring caravans by councillors in November last year.

But owners George and Tom Smith want the site to be permanent and have appealed against the time limit on the grounds the condition was put in place to make it more politically acceptable to councillors.

The appeal comes as other similar sites in the Hurworth area have been granted permission.

The site, at Little Beck, in Burma Road, on Hurworth Moor, includes a utility building, fencing and field shelter as well as permission to keep horses on the land.

It was already in existence when the original application was made last year.

According to development plans for the Tees Valley, Darlington has a need for 61 Gypsy and traveller pitches.

Under planning policy, pitches should be provided where they are needed.

Six people, along with Hurworth Parish Council and the Campaign to Protect Rural England, objected to the original plans, voicing concerns about building in open countryside and the development not being in keeping with area. The then-Hurworth ward councillor Malcolm Dunstone, who has now stepped down, also spoke against the plans at the committee meeting when the decision was made.

Mr Dunstone, who was on the planning committee at the time, said he was concerned the development was unplanned, "sporadic" and "uncontrolled", and could lead to a host of other similar developments on nearby land.

Darlington Borough Council's planning committee decided permission should be granted on a temporary basis because this policy is under review by the Government, with a decision expected in 2013.

But the owners disagree.

They argue conditions are in place to ensure the site is developed in line with planning policy, and the decision is a political one.

The applicants' ground for appeal read: "In our opinion there was no planning reason for changing the officers' report to include the condition for temporary permission.

"It seemed to us that the reason was about it being more politically acceptable to the committee than any planning merit."

The appeal will be dealt with through the written representations procedure by the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Anyone who would like to make a written representation in relation to the appeal can do so at planning-inspectorate.gov.uk, using appeal number APP/N1350/A/11/ 2153205/NWF