Councillors have deferred their decision on plans to tip thousands of tonnes of inert waste on an Addingham farm, to give them time to visit the site.

North Yorkshire County Council’s Planning and Regulatory Functions Committee debated the plan for Farfield Farm, Bolton Road, at its meeting on Tuesday.

Officers have recommended the refusal of planning permission for the scheme, which would see a ravine filled in with soil and other inert waste.

But the committee has decided to delay its decision, giving councillors the chance to make a site visit before determining the plan.

Applicant, tenant farmer Philip Barker, wants to fill in a steep ravine, giving farm machinery better access to the grazing land to cut back grose, thistles and nettles.

Objections and concerns were raised by local residents and organisations over the impact on the landscape, and effects of heavy trucks on small rural roads.