A Herefordshire businessman has been told no action can be taken against a planning breach at his premises that has been going on for nearly quarter of a century.

Jeremy Holden was respectively chairman and managing director of two businesses, Holden Aluminium Technology and Holden Classic and Vintage, based at Unit A of Linton Trading Estate near Bromyard from 1999 until the present.

A condition with the original planning permission for the building prevented deliveries before 8am and after 8pm weekdays.

But until 2014 the earlier firm took regular deliveries of extruded aluminium from overseas suppliers outside of these hours, as it operated round the clock. This continued under new management until 2017 when the firm relocated, Mr Holden’s declaration said.

Partly overlapping with this, Holden Classic and Vintage operated from the premises from 2014, also taking regular deliveries during the proscribed hours.

Herefordshire Council planning officer Andrew Banks said no one had questioned this version of events during the public consultation on the case, nor any other evidence been submitted that would call into question Mr Holden’s declaration.

Brockhampton Group Parish Council had asked for the timings for deliveries at the premises to be reviewed so that the original planning condition “serves both the needs of the businesses on the trading estate whilst maintaining the amenity of nearby residents at Linton Court”.

Mr Banks said this was “noted, but the application is not about a review of the delivery hours as such”.

The certificate of lawful use issued to Mr Holden confirms that deliveries to the building “can lawfully continue unencumbered”