And local people were asked by the chief planning officer to ensure that the restrictions were respected.

Mr H Nelson of Lealholm Lodge, Lealholm applied for planning permission for a change of use of land behind the village’s Lodge Bank to extend his timber yard and storage area for drying timber.

But there were objections from neighbouring business partners who bought a nearby building four years ago to convert into a pair of semi-detached houses.

At the time, they claimed that no timber was stored there and there was a view of open countryside.

They claimed that if there had been a store of timber they would not have bought the property but when work on the first house was completed “huge stacks” of timber appeared, putting off several prospective buyers.

They further claimed that if permission was given to use the land as a timber store it would entail large lorries going through the village to transport it and a road would need to be laid strong enough to take the lorries, generating considerable traffic noise.

Chief planning officer Val Dilcock said the application arose after the national park’s enforcement team investigated the issue when timber started to be stored to considerable heights to the rear of the garden fence of the converted building.

The site is within a conservation area and restrictions were imposed.

They included limiting the height of the timber piles to three metres and to 1.8 metres for those within seven metres of the south boundary.

In addition, the use of any mechanical equipment including saws, stripping or chipping machines was forbidden on the site.

Mrs Dilcock said that monitoring the height of the piles on a day to day basis was difficult as they were constantly changing, unless neighbours helped.

She later told the Gazette: “With such a large area to cover we do rely on the help of local people to check on what’s happening and let us know if something is wrong.”