VILLAGERS thought it was rotten to the core, but planners gave permission for an orchard to build a 71-metre long cold store.

No fewer than 100 residents wrote to Winchester City Council to oppose the scheme by applicant Hill Farm Orchards, to construct the building next to its plot at Droxford Road, Swanmore.

The site has been used to grow apples for decades, and it already has a small cold store.

However, the structure cannot cope with the amount of fruit produced at the orchard, the owners said.

As a result, they want to build a temperature-controlled warehouse that would be 71 metres long, 31 wide and nearly 10 metres tall.

The council's planning committee met in Winchester last Thursday to discuss the application, which officers advised should be approved because it would result in fewer lorry trips.

Some apples are currently taken to Portsmouth and Kent, as the current cold store is too small, members heard.

The fruit is then returned to Swanmore when space becomes free, and is then packaged and distributed.

Building a large cold store at Hill Farm Orchard would avoid the need for off-site storage, which would reduce traffic, officers said.

But some residents were unconvinced, and argued that the cold store was too large for the orchard, even if production increased.

They also speculated that the extra space would be used by fruit distributor A G Axton & Son.

The firm has a warehouse beside the orchard, and owns the land where the cold store would be built.

Given that the company distributes fruit, and does not grow it, villagers argued that too many lorries were already visiting its site.

If the firm had the chance to expand into part of the cold store, it would make matters worse, residents claimed.

Swanmore Parish Council also objected, along with Cllr Frank Pearson, who represents the area on the district authority.

Some members of the committee raised concerns about the impact of lorries on the village's rural lanes.

Cllr Georgina Busher said: "They are already in the most appalling condition, and you have to be very careful when driving."

However, the councillors followed the their officers' advice, with eight votes in favour while Cllr Busher and Cllr John Beveridge abstained.