A BID to turn decaying shipping containers into an extension to a listed Green Belt building has been refused.

A number of metal containers area currently located to the rear of Walkhill Farm in Apperley Bridge – a listed farmhouse and barn that have been converted into a home.

Bradford Council says it has begun an enforcement investigation over the structures.

Earlier this year, a planning application was submitted to the Council that would see the containers refurbished.

The application, by Nirmal Singh, says the work would “reuse the shipping containers’ steel structure and modify it in a modern and contemporary manner with glass to provide additional leisure facilities and accommodation to complement the barn.”

But planners said an extension made of shipping containers would be harmful to both the Green Belt and the listed building.

Refusing the scheme, planners said: “The setting has been affected by the introduction of several steel shipping containers, a static caravan and other incremental structures.

“These clutter the setting of the permanent buildings and harm the openness of the landscape.

“The principle of introduction of additional structures derived from the containers into the setting of the traditional stone buildings is harmful.

“Regardless of the intended use or the external materials or appearance, they introduce unnecessary clutter and domestication, failing to preserve the setting of the Grade II listed heritage asset.

“The proposed development is unacceptable and does not comply with national policy on Green Belts.”