A free range hen farm in Hingham has been granted permission to extend its business to incorporate an additional 16,000 birds.A planning application to extend the existing free range egg unit and place two feed silos at Hall Farm, in Dereham Road, were approved by South Norfolk Council's north and west area planning committee on Monday.

A FREE range hen farm in Hingham has been granted permission to extend its business to incorporate an additional 16,000 birds.

A planning application to extend the existing free range egg unit and place two feed silos at Hall Farm, in Dereham Road, were approved by South Norfolk Council's north and west area planning committee on Monday.

They also approved a retrospective planning application to retain the existing free range unit, which already holds 16,000 hens.

The existing unit had been previously shown the green light, but had not been constructed in the approved position.

Two objections had been lodged by nearby residents who said the farm had attracted an increase in flies since it began operation.

But planners said environmental services officers had visited the building who were satisfied that there was good management controls in place and fly monitoring had not shown a significant increase.