Hatchfield victory for horsemen following seven-year battle

The seven-year saga over Hatchfield Farm in Newmarket could finally be over after new Secretary of State Sajid Javid reversed a decision to approve plans for Lord Derby to build 400 houses on the controversial site.

The importance of the horseracing industry to the economy of Newmarket was one of the main factors that finally sunk the long-running application that had been given the go-ahead by the local Forest Heath District Council planners in June 2014.

Only weeks later, that decision was 'called in' by the then Local Government and Communities minister Eric Pickles, and that has since taken two years finally to be resolved after endless rounds of inquiries and submissions.