AN AMBITIOUS scheme to put a new service station on an A64 roundabout east of the York looks set to be halted by councillors today.

A planning application by Enita Europe to build a petrol filling station, restaurant and hotel at the Hopgrove roundabout is due to be discussed by the council's planning committee this afternoon.

The application would see a triangle of land between the A64 the outer ring road and Old Malton Road built on, but officials have recommended the application is turned down because it lies within the Green Belt.

Their report to the planning committee says the plans are "inappropriate within the Green Belt" and would bring "unacceptable harm" to the area.

The recommendations also say the service station would give rise to "severe and on-going harmful impact to the residential amenity" of people living nearby, and would be at a high risk of flooding.

Wildlife could also be at risk if the new development were to go ahead, the report says, including protected water voles living on the site, and a sewage treatment plant on the site could leak and infect the water table.

The recommendations reflect objections from Huntington Parish Council, which warned the plans could cause a build up of traffic on local roads and inflict higher noise and light pollution levels on homes nearby.

But a statement by planning consultants England and Lyle said the service station would meet an identified need for more motorists services on the A64.

Meanwhile, plans for 65 new homes on a former fruit factory site north of York have been submitted to the council.

Del Monte has applied for planning permission to create a new residential development to replace its disused factory in Skelton.

After six months of marketing the site for employment uses, the company's land agents now say a buyer could not be found and the company wants to redevelop the site for residential use.

The proposed development would see 65 new homes including two, three and four bedroomed homes in either detached, semi-detached, or terraced properties, on the six acre site.

The application has already attracted comments from several neighbours, many of whom support the idea of development but are worried about access from the development on the A19, and the safety of people trying to walk from the new houses to services in the village across the busy road.