A STONEYARD operator at the centre of a row with neighbours over noise and nuisance has been given planning consent for a year to continue operating the business.

It emerged Karl Stratford had been running part of his stone reclamation business at Friar's industrial estate in Bradford Road, Idle, without planning consent after extending his business on to a site closer to homes which edge the site.

He applied for retrospective planning permission after neighbours complained on noise from the work to tip and reclaim stone at the premises and also complains of dust from the process.

Bradford Council officials told councillors yesterday that work done by Mr Stratford, in building a wall and two metre high bund to block noise meant that disturbance appeared to be below the threshold of acceptability. Environmental Health also confirmed there was no issue with dust to cause problems.

Councillors had been told by neighbour David Swain that noise when stone was tipped "has been likened to thunder" by visitors and that noise from a stone cutting machine had become "a form of torture".

The situation had left his family "stressed and depressed" he said, "It has had a huge unwelcome impact on my family."

But Mr Stratford told the meeting objections had started only recently and he had photographed the homes of objectors who complained of noise and dust when work was going on and found their windows open.

"There was a Porsche parked outside one objector's house with its roof down, it was there for two hours," said Mr Stratford.

The temporary planning consent will give Council officials the opportunity to monitor the impact of measures put in place to minimise disruption.