AGRICULTURAL land at High Carley, near Ulverston, is to be restored and raised using waste material created on a neighbouring building site.

Cumbria County Council planners approved the plans to infill the land off Carley Lane, with 18,000 cubic metres of waste material from the former High Carley hospital site - currently being developed into a housing estate.

The proposal by Endmoor-based L & Wilson Ltd will involve the ground level being raised by up to three metres, and will restore the land which has suffered subsidence and degradation as a result of former iron ore mining.

The council's development control and regulation committee also agreed that the company could reclaim the former sewage works and infill the site so it could be used for farming.

Pennington Parish Council had objected to the proposal due to concerns about the drainage plans and the risk of potential flooding if the land was filled with material.

But Shaun Gorman, assistant director of development control, recommended approval of the scheme, concluding that there were clear environmental and economic benefits in not having to transport waste material long distances for disposal.

He added that the removal of the sewage works would visually improve the site and enable it to be put back to beneficial use.