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JOBS look to have been secured after a thriving Clare wine company was given long-term permission to continue storage and distribution operations from a purpose-built warehouse.

It was feared that jobs a Nethergate holdings Limited in Clare’s High Street were at risk after council planners recommended they be banned from using their warehouse which lies in a conservation area.

But members of St Edmundsbury Planning Committee dismissed the recommendation and granted the firm permission to use the warehouse at Eastfield Farm, on the edge of the town for at least another five years.

The ruling means at least three full time jobs that were created due to the launch of their distribution franchise and subsequent expansion, will now be safe for the foreseeable future. An administrative post and two delivery driver positions also look secure.

Nethergate, which employs around 18 people and supplies restaurants and hotels in the region, has previously only been granted temporary permission to store and distribute goods at their warehouse. The company had applied for permanent permission to enable it to make long-term future business plans.

However, council planners said that heavy vehicle using the very narrow Harp Lane leading to the warehouse, were harming nearby amenities and housing. Letters from residents also raised concerns for the safety of children and fears that the farmland was being transformed into an industrial site.

But councillors granted the firm permission to use the site for at least another five years, but said the maximum weight for lorries using the site should be reduced from 32 tonnes to 18.