WARRINGTON Borough Council has refused planning permission to convert a farm building in Woolston into a metalwork workshop.

Richard Mawdsley had applied to the council to change the use of the building on Moss Farm, which has not been used for around 10 years.

Under the proposal, the Nicol Avenue farm would have been converted into a unit to be used by an engineer in order to manufacture gates and other metalwork for the Environment Agency.

But planning permission was refused on the grounds of insufficient details being submitted by the applicant and the building being situated in the green belt.

In its refusal, Warrington Borough Council said: “Insufficient details have been submitted to allow the local planning authority to conclude that the building is substantial and physically capable of being converted without substantial reconstruction.

“The proposed use would be inappropriate within the green belt, and no special circumstances have been submitted to overcome that harm.”