Problems with odours from the farm stretch back more than 10 years

Villagers in Woolpit have been complaining about the smells from John Clarke's Rookery Farm at Drinkstone for more than a decade.

Friday's ruling means Mid Suffolk District Council can pursue an injunction to stop the rendering.

The judge said Mr Clarke's argument to continue the process had been "fundamentally misconceived".

The council has been trying for years on behalf of people living in Woolpit to put an end to the smells, tagged the "Woolpit Whiff", coming from the rendering operations.

Costs awarded

Mr Clarke did have permission to cook swill for his herd of pigs but when he gave up livestock farming in 2002, following the outbreak of foot and mouth disease, he carried on.

He took loads of offal and other waste from local food processing factories and converted it to fertiliser.

The council claimed this industrial use breached the original agricultural planning permission.

Mr Justice Newman found that the use of the cooking plant for industrial rendering did not have planning permission.

Issuing his judgement he said the change of use arose not because the process had altered but because most of the product from the cooking plant was being distributed away from the farm.

Costs were awarded to the council. Although the right to appeal was withheld, an application may be still be made.