AN application for 40 caravans to be sited in a small village near Pershore has been rejected by Wychavon District Council’s planning committee.

Sandfield Farms Ltd wanted to house 200 seasonal workers on the site of Simms and Woods Ltd off the Wyre Piddle Bypass in Upper Moor.

Derek Wilkinson, managing director and partner of Sandfield Farms Ltd, said the business needed the caravans to house seasonal pack house staff. He said it was essential for the continued success of his business as it would enable them to employ overseas staff.

Sandfield Farms Ltd was taken over by G’s, a national company based in Ely, Cambridgeshire, which has farms all over the country, in 2007.

The site near Wyre Piddle now contributes to the 32 million bunches of spring onion grown each year, and grows around 500 acres of asparagus and nearly 1,000 acres of legumes.

The local member, councillor Liz Tucker, said: “The functional need that the company is trying to resolve is about recruiting the staff it wants, it is not about the function of the pack house itself.

“We are talking about a very big company, not a locallybased company. I am concerned about the landscape impact.”

She warned the planning committee that approving the application could set a precedent for future applications of the same type.