Pig farmer wants airport response

Mr Longthorp has decided to invest in new breeding stock

A pig farmer is demanding action from the owners of the UK's newest airport, in a safety dispute that he says could cost him his livelihood.

Richard Longthorp, of East Yorkshire, claims Peel Holdings have demanded he decrease pig stocks at his Finningley farm near Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

But he says repeated requests for more information have been ignored, putting the future of his business at risk.

A spokesman for Peel Holdings declined to comment on the situation.

Mr Longthorp said the problem started in 2000 when Peel Holdings contacted him to say his pigs would have to go.

I don't care how many bits of paper Peel come along with, we ain't moving Richard Longthorp

He was told the animals attract lots of birds which could get caught in the engines of passing aircraft and cause a major air traffic accident.

"I was shocked because it never occurred to me," he told BBC Radio Humberside.

"But when we realised the seriousness of the situation we enquired of Peel what it was they wanted so we could hopefully come to a joint solution to the problem."

But apart from a meeting in November last year, in which Mr Longthorp said nothing was resolved, he claims he has not heard from the company.

Initially he said he was reluctant to invest in new breeding stock.

But after four years with no resolution to the problem he has decided to carry on regardless.

"I've been trying to find out from Peel what it was they wanted, but this has been going on for so long that we've taken the decision to invest in new breeding stock," he said.

"We're in the final stages of negotiating to purchase another 1,200 breeding animals and then they'll start arriving some time during the summer.

"And I don't care how many bits of paper Peel come along with, we ain't moving."