A family have won their four year battle to build themselves a home in North Yorkshire after councillors went against officers advice and gave the go ahead.

The plans had twice been thrown out by Ryedale District Council with two appeals also dismissed but at the third attempt Dave and Belinda Farrow were given permission to build their new home.

The couple had sold their former home to buy the plot at Slingsby, near Malton, which contained stables and a commercial workshop. But local residents objected to their plans to build a single storey barn style home on the site.

Mrs Farrow said: “It has been a terribly traumatic experience and we’ve had this cloud hanging over our heads for the last three and half years. We knew the property was in a conservation area and we knew getting permission wouldn’t be straightforward, but I wouldn’t want any other family to go through what we’ve been through.”

The couple brought in planning consultants Prism from Darlington who argued that the new house was a big improvement on what was there Steve Barker of Prism said:“This was very much a victory for common sense. Following a site visit the members had little doubt that we had put a great deal of thought into our proposals and had worked through all the previous difficulties.

“Trying to come up with an acceptable scheme after two previous appeal decisions was never going to be an easy task, but we managed to get there in the end. “