ENFORCEMENT action against a Vale vegetable packing firm said to be causing traffic, fumes and noise nuisance to neighbouring residents is set to be deferred until later this year.

The long running saga of the Simms and Wood site at Chapel Lane, Wyre Piddle has prompted Wychavon District Council planning officials to recommend enforcement action be taken in light of increased operations at the site.

The possibility of the company transferring operations to an alternative site at Lower Moor has, however, led the officials to recommend members of the council's development control and licensing committee - which meets today - to await the findings of a review to be carried out in September before deciding on action.

In a report by Wychavon's enforcement planning officer, Phil Wears, to the committee, he says expansion of activities on land at Chapel Lane should be brought under control, as the scale of packhouse operations there had grown "dramatically" over the last 10 years, with extra buildings being erected.

He added: "Furthermore, with an alternative site now available to the company, the long-term future of the Chapel Lane site needs to be considered and the use of buildings reviewed where practical."

Mr Wears explained that prosecution relating to Simms and Woods's non-compliance with enforcement notices issued in November, 200l, relating to expansion on to agricultural land, be withheld until September "to take account of the progress made in relocating to the new site in Upper Moor and the circumstances at Chapel Lane".

Breaches of planning permission by the company outlined in the report included use of a building for washing and packing vegetables and the installation of a steel container - formerly a lorry body - to provide extra accommodation.

Mr Wears' report said the use of the building for the washing and packing of vegetables on the site was "seriously harmful to the amenities of residents of Chapel Lane by reason of the noise, vibration, exposure to fumes and danger to pedestrians caused by the vehicles serving the site".

Action recommended to remedy the breaches includes removing equipment and machinery used to wash, pack and chill vegetables and ending those operations in the building.

The steel container also ought to be removed from the land, according to Mr Wears's report.