THE owners of Elvington Airfield have halted Formula One testing until a legal wrangle over noise has been settled.

A row over noisy vehicle testing on the airfield runway had been due to go to a two-day trial at Pickering Magistrates Court next week, with local residents and noise experts set to give evidence.

But at an interim hearing at York Magistrates Court yesterday, it was agreed to adjourn the trial to May, with another interim hearing to be held next month.

The court was told the adjournment would allow City of York Council to carry out more noise assessments.

But Christian Rogers, representing airfield owners Elvington Park Ltd, gave the court an assurance no Formula One testing would take place until either an agreement had been reached between the council and airfield, or the court had reached its decision.

The Evening Press reported last year the testing of high-performance, super-fast cars by top teams such as Jaguar, McLaren Mercedes and Jordan was driving villagers in Elvington round the bend.

Ian Bailey, chairman of Elvington Parish Council, said the noise from such vehicles was "absolutely hellish". The council served the airfield with a noise abatement notice last year.

Updated: 09:57 Wednesday, March 01, 2006