Plans for a massive soft drinks depot have hit a major stumbling block - because it would stand on the site of a famous civil war battle.

Environment and Transport Secretary John Prescott has decided to hold a public inquiry in Bradford into the plan by Britain's third biggest soft drinks company to build the complex at Cross Lane, off the Drighlington by-pass.

The Princes soft drinks depot would be part of a new business park expected to bring 850 jobs to Bradford.

Historians, who objected to the company's planning application, have pointed out that the battle of Adwalton Moor was fought on the land in 1643.

The area proposed for the development is where the initial fighting took place which led to the Siege of Bradford.

The application also drew 600 individual letters of objection from families complaining about traffic, noise and nuisance from the development which would dominate the skyline.

English Heritage was among conservation organisations which also opposed the scheme.

But Charles Forgan, secretary of Bradford Congress, made up of the district's leading organisations, described the decision as appalling.

He said: "It is scandalous that the Department of Environment and Transport for the regions has taken four months to come to a conclusion that should have been reached in one.

"It is not actually a decision but a decision to make a decision at some unknown time in the future."

The chairman of the Council's Regeneration Committee, Councillor Dave Green, said they believed all the major objections from residents had been dealt with when the application was considered by the Council. "We are extremely disappointed by this."

But Ray Crorken, of the residents' action group, said: "We are very pleased that the Government has listened. We hope an independent inquiry will now take notice of us."

Mr Prescott's office says the main reasons for holding the inquiry are the history of the site, traffic, and the scale and impact of the building on the Green Belt.

No-one at Princes was available for comment.

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