POULTRY units will be built in two locations in the county after receiving approval from county planners – despite considerable local objection.

Plans for four poultry units on land at Bowling Green Farm in Clehonger were given approval, along with a scheme for two units on land to the west of Eaton Hill in Leominster.

Members of Herefordshire Council's planning committee heard how locals in both areas were concerned about the impact on the already busy roads, possible flooding, odour and pollution.

Clehonger parish councillor Carole Protherough said: "It is bringing no benefit to Clehonger as a parish but has a potentially severe impact on local residents and the natural environment."

The applicant, Mr Whittal, said his family had lived at the Bowling Green Farm site for many years and farmed it to a high standard.

"We have had to change with the times. We are a progressive farm business looking to grow," he said.

"We have an excellent site close to the processing plant and feed mill. Chicken production has been carried out here since the 60s. We have had no objections from national agencies."

Councillor David Greenow said such schemes are 'always contentious'.

He said: "A lot of people are employed, not necessarily on this site, but in the industry and at Cargill in Herefordshire and we hear rumblings all the time about what's happening with them but they are here at the moment and they employ a lot of people because of farms like this."

But councillors were warned that they were not properly considering the impact of intensive livestock farming on tourism.

Councillor Felicity Norman said: "We are talking a great deal about employment and the need to support the economic advantages of this but ignoring the fact that tourism is a major player in our economy and contributes more I believe than farming these days."

Meanwhile, Leominster Town Councillor Robert Barton told the committee the scheme for two units on Eaton Hill had been 'unanimously rejected' by his colleagues.

"We have the highest density of intensive poultry units or any administrative area in Western Europe according to Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)," he said.

"Can we put a price on how a lung full of chicken odour affects our tourism trade?"

There were concerns that the application could jeopardise a scheme to build a dementia village at nearby West Eaton Nursing Home.