NATIONAL park planners have failed to close down an unusual tourist attraction they claimed was damaging the Yorkshire Dales.

A Government inspector has overruled the national park authority's decision not to allow The Forbidden Corner, near Middleham, which pulls 70,000 visitors a year.

The attraction's management appealed in June against the authority's decision to close it down after deciding the garden, which includes statues, underground caves, gardens and towers, created a significant intrusion in Coverdale.

The inspector, working for the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, announced that it could remain.

Elaine Lister, agent for the attraction, said: "We are completely delighted by this news. Common sense has prevailed.

"We have introduced a number of things, including slight highway improvements and pre-booking to control numbers, and we do not think we are having an adverse effect on the area."

Peter Watson, head of planning at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, said: "The planning inspector has placed a different interpretation on the planning policies we cited as reasons for refusal.

"Whilst this is disappointing for the authority, the inspector has chosen to accept a number of conditions we suggested on the opening of The Forbidden Corner, which should go some way to regulating its impact on Coverdale.

"At all times this authority has dealt fairly with this application, applying planning policy in a consistent manner."

The Forbidden Corner opened to the public without planning permission three years ago.