1.5-million-birds-a-year chicken farm plan near Bridgnorth is withdrawn

Residents were up in arms over the proposals, which included four poultry sheds, each the size of a football pitch, set next to the scenic Shropshire Hills and close to people's homes and businesses.

The plans for the land, at Upper Netchwood, close to Monkhopton, drew concerns from the community and parish council and provoked a raft of objections, including one from Shropshire Council’s own highways and ecology team.

The application from Church Stretton-based DJ and V Riley was due to be heard on Friday but was withdrawn from the agenda at a late stage.

Chris Edwards, chair of the Netchwood Action Group which opposed the plans, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have stopped this disaster of a scheme that threatened to blight our lives for generations to come.

"We fought it every step of the way, and it seems the applicant and their backers finally saw sense and realised just how shoddy and ill-conceived their scheme actually is.

"We really don’t understand why Shropshire Council allowed it to get this far in the first place. Over the last decade the council has managed to attain the highest number of intensive livestock units in any county in England, yet not once has it issued a statement spelling out precisely what benefits these units are supposed to bring to Shropshire and all its inhabitants."

Councillor Nicky Squire, who took Shropshire Council to court to stop a similar scheme at Tasley, said: “There’ll be many people across Shropshire who’ll be delighted at this news.

"These types of development contribute directly to climate change, and their long-term viability is already questionable. People’s health is progressively being harmed by this type of food production, particularly by its ongoing use of antibiotics, which is arguably becoming more of a problem, not less as the UK poultry industry would have us believe."