A PRESTON pig farmer has been given the go-ahead to convert his farm into industrial units.

Keith Bradley, of Carver Hey Farm in Little Hoole, wants to close his farm following a drop in the price of pork and an increase in the cost of raising pigs. The farm has been in his family for 26 years.

He is the latest in a long line of farmers to turn their backs on the profession, citing spiralling prices and government red tape as the main problems.

But Mr Bradley aims to convert the area into ten light industrial and storage units for small businesses.

His plans have been slammed by local residents, who feared an increase in traffic in the area.

But Mr Bradley's agent Graham Simpkin argued that whatever happened the amount of traffic would increase on the roads anyway.

He said: "For the farm to stay open, my client would need to substantially invest to meet improved standards -- and that would mean an increase in the number of pigs and an increase in the numbers of vehicles to the site."

Six objections to the changes were submitted on account of the traffic, but all had sympathy for Mr Bradley and South Ribble's Western Parishes area committee passed the planning application at New Longton Village Hall on Tuesday night.

Mr Bradley has already branched out into other ventures -- he has already received permission to develop slurry tanks into a practice pool for diving clubs.