A NEIGHBOUR has defended the use of a field in Preston where scrap metal traders keep their horses.
A 65-name petition from residents living near the field in Sproatley Road, Preston, was submitted to East Riding councillors last week.
They are calling on the council to take enforcement action over a stable block in the field, constructed without planning permission five years ago.
The petitioners claim the site has been used as an unofficial scrapyard and say their lives have been ruined by late-night noise and disturbances involving people using it.
But Derek Webster, whose home in Ness Close overlooks the field, said it had recently been cleaned up.
He said: "I have lived here 25 years and have never really had a problem with the field.
"It was a small-holding when we first moved here, then it was left to go a bit wild.
"Now it's being used for the horses, I don't really see what the problem is.
"It's kept nice and tidy, some new fencing has gone up and the lads who keep their horses here aren't doing anyone any harm.
"In fact, it's nice to come out and feed the horses with my grandchildren."
Mr Webster said he did not agree with some of the allegations made by other residents over the issue.
He said: "I never even knew about a petition, yet I live next to the field.
"I get the impression some people are just looking for an excuse to get the horses moved off."
One scrap dealer agreed to talk to the Mail on condition that he remained anonymous.
He also agreed to show us around the site, where there was no sign of scrap.
He said he had started renting the field about a month ago.
"All of these things that people are saying about what goes on here happened a long time ago," he said.
"Since I've been in charge of the tenancy, I've put up new fencing, tidied up the manure patch and all the horses are well looked after.
"The RSPCA is happy with the way we look after our horses here and they would be first in the queue to say something if they weren't."
He said he took exception to claims by petitioners that horse slurry was being discharged from the site into a land drainage ditch which flowed into an open unguarded ditch in the children's play area of a nearby pub.
Photographs showing a slurry- filled drain were shown to councillors last week.
However, the drain appears to flow in the opposite direction and stops at the entrance to the field, which is several hundred yards from the pub.
He said: "The ditch doesn't go anywhere near the pub, so I don't know where they got that from.
"If any slurry reached there, it must have somehow got out of the ditch and travelled over the brow of a hill to get there. As far as I know, water doesn't flow uphill."
He admitted the stables were "not in the best condition" but he said: "They're not the worst I've seen either.
"If we have to put in a new application, than that's what we will have to do."
A retrospective planning application for the stables was refused last year by East Riding Council's planning committee.
At the time, 121 residents signed a protect petition calling on councillors to reject the application after listing numerous complaints.
Last week, scrutiny councillors called for a new report into possible enforcement action over the continuing presence of the stable block.
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