A farmer in a village near Tiverton is allowed to keep a new building and a temporary home - despite not following the planning rules to the letter.

The farmer had originally been given permission by Mid Devon District Council last year to erect a storage building on his land in Hockworthy, but the contractor who built it made it more than a metre higher than initially stipulated.

The temporary staff accommodation is a mobile home and it doesn’t have timber cladding as was previously agreed.

On Wednesday (April 5) the planning committee decided that it can stay as long as the cladding is added. The farmer has permission to keep the mobile home until 2026.

The storage facility can also stay as it is, the council said - despite concerns from Green Cllr Jo Norton that the decision sets a "dangerous precedent" of the council not following its own policies.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Ben Holdman agreed the council risked “watering down” its planning guidelines.

However, Cllr Polly Colthorpe (Conservative) said that the council should be trying to encourage farmers to stay in the trade amid the ongoing food crisis.

READ NEXT: Tractor catches fire in North Devon farmyard

A nearby business owner, who lets holiday properties, objected to the application because of worries fears of noise because of geese at the farm, but the applicant will continue to use the building to store goslings.

Both applications were approved, but the farmer has been told to look into putting hedgerows in front of the storage building to screen it from public view. The mobile home should also be painted to help it fit in with its surroundings.