MORE than 50 jobs will be lost if a Colne garage is forced to remove flues bringing clean air into the building, a public inquiry was told.

J Macadam and Son (Garages) Ltd, North Valley Road, is appealing against Pendle Council's demands for the removal of nine flues from the roof.

Councillors ruled last year that they were detrimental to visual amenity and had to come down.

But Macadams claim the business will shut with the loss of 57 jobs because, without the flues, it cannot spray-paint vehicles.

Residents have been complaining about fumes from the garage for more than a year. But planning inspector Clive Whitehouse ruled at the start of the inquiry that pollution would not be considered, and it emerged the council was no longer pursuing an enforcement notice relating to four chimneys which extract fumes.

Town planner Alison Roland, who represents the business, said: "A key material factor to be weighed in the balance is the importance of the flues to the continued viability of the business. Since almost all vehicle repairs necessitate some repainting, the spray booths are an essential and integral component of the business. Without the spray booths, the viability of the business would be seriously imperilled."

Acting for the council, David Hardy, said: "It is a big building, but it isn't obtrusive, it doesn't have adornments, or paraphernalia on it. The flues would alter the unobtrusive nature by adding a new aesthetic. We say there is sufficient material effect on the external appearance of the building for planning permission to be required."

Giles Cannock, acting for Macadams, argued that the building was industrial, already obtrusive, and that the flues shared the skyline with many other structures.

"It is a balancing act between the loss of 57 jobs and the closure of a business making reuse of an old industrial building, in a regeneration area in an industry targeted for support in growth, and harm to possibly three residential properties in Wordsworth Drive, seen from an oblique angle 35 metres away."

Mr Whitehouse is expected to make a decision by June 20.