At a meeting in Masham on Tuesday, North Yorkshire County Council’s planning committee voted 6 - 3 to reject Tarmac’s controversial proposal to quarry 112 acres at Ladybridge Farm, close to the 5,000 year old henges.

The committee ruled against the application for an extension of the existing Nosterfield Quarry, saying it went against the county’s mineral local plan regarding location, scale and the adverse impact it would have on “nationally important archaeological remains”.

But before anti-quarry campaigners had time to celebrate their victory, Tarmac announced it would be appealing against the decision.

The firm’s estates manager, Bob Nicholson, said after the meeting: “We are deeply disappointed at this decision, which threatens the livelihoods of more than 50 people and has serious implications in respect of the supply of sand and gravel to the construction industry.

“We will appeal against this decision because we believe that the advice given by English Heritage is based on speculation and supposition about the status of archaeology at Ladybridge and their assertion of national importance is not supported by factual evidence.”

In response to the continued threat of quarrying near the henges, heritage action group TimeWatch has called for the recently proposed Thornborough Henges conservation plan to be radically redrafted to reflect the importance of the area.

Spokesman George Chaplin said: “The threat of quarrying has not been removed by the planning refusal but it has given time to take stock and for everyone to agree upon the best future for the whole area.”

The Timewatch proposals are for:

l a much wider “no quarry zone” extending at least a mile radius from the central monuments

l the preservation of all archaeology within the zone to be the top priority

Mr Chaplin said: “Tarmac have not given up in their ambition to extend the existing quarry.