THE owners of an equestrian centre near Tadcaster have finally been forced to knock down a stable block after a planning saga that has rumbled on for nearly four years.

Debra and John Rutherford, of the Highfields Equestrian Centre, at Stutton, have now demolished the eight-stall stable block on green belt land after being served with an enforcement notice by Selby District Council.

Selby Magistrates yesterday handed Debra Rutherford a £200 fine and her husband, John, a £100 fine for failing to comply with the notice. They were also ordered to pay £200 each in costs.

The court heard that the offending block had been built without planning consent in September 2000. Retrospective permission was granted in June the following year.

But Sam Smith's brewery in Tadcaster launched a High Court injunction against the planning consent, claiming there were "procedural abnormalities".

After a 15-month delay, the council finally turned down planning permission for the block in March 2003.

The Rutherfords were given two months to knock it down, but won an extension to six months after appealing to a planning inspector.

Despite applying again for planning permission to use the block for agricultural use, the Rutherfords found themselves before magistrates this summer after their enforcement notice was served on May 10.

Paul Andrews, for Selby District Council, said: "Whichever way you look at it, planning consent is never going to be given for buildings on that piece of land."

Claire Brook, for the Rutherfords, said the couple had thought the second planning application might mean the stable block could remain.

She said it had cost them £1,500 to demolish the block, plus up to £400 to disconnect the electrics.

The business, run by Debra Rutherford, had been losing thousands of pounds over the past two years, she said. Draft figures for 2003 showed a loss of £8,244.

Debra Rutherford said after the case: "I think we have just got to move forward now, and make the best of what shouldn't have got this far."

Updated: 10:43 Friday, September 03, 2004