A farmer has argued a proposed industrial estate would decimate wildlife as well as his livelihood if approved by the council.

Land comprising 728 acres between the Cat Hill roundabout and Goldthorpe could be made available for businesses with the creation of an estimated 10,700 jobs if the council decides to press ahead with the plan next year.

But it is currently tended by a number of arable farmers in Billingley, on long-lease contracts with the Fitzwilliam Estate, which owns the land.

One of those is Andrew Stenton, 38, whose 200 acres on the site represents about half of the family's arable acreage in Billingley. The farm has about 1,000 acres in total but much of this is outside Billingley and on short-lease contracts.

"I don't think we would be able to function as an arable farm any longer," says Andrew's father Michael. "I'm retired now but my son has got his whole future ahead of him. This would halve our income on the arable side of the business."

"It's our homestead," Andrew adds. "We've been farming in Billingley for three generations and this land is our security.

"If we lost that we would have to find more ways of diversifying, like we did with the Christmas tree business.

"Farming has been hard enough lately which is why we did that in the place but it's one of this country's last remaining primary industries. This doesn't help."

But the land also provides a haven for wildlife as part of a scheme with Natural England, which pays farmers to develop parts of their land for the benefit of wild animals and plants, of which Andrew has devoted five per cent.

"We've created scrub margins, water courses and hedgerows around Carr Dyke, that the game keeper has worked very hard on, and we're getting all sorts of flora and fauna there like butterflies, water voles, sky larks as well as pheasant and partridge for the shoot."