THE row over noisy vehicle testing at an airfield near York could end up being resolved at a two-day court hearing in March.

Local residents and noise experts could be asked to give evidence in court, if the case goes ahead.

As reported previously, City of York Council served a noise abatement order last year on the airfield owners, Elvington Park Ltd, following complaints about the testing of vehicles, including high performance Formula One cars.

The noise from teams such as Jaguar, McLaren Mercedes and Jordan testing their super-fast racing cars was dubbed "absolutely hellish" by Ian Bailey, the chairman of Elvington Parish Council.

But Ian Wormald, of Elvington Park, told villagers at their annual meeting that testing of high performance vehicles had gone on for years at the airfield and only took place during the week. "The testing is actually very short," he said.

The city council said earlier this month it had been working with Elvington Park to try to agree a noise management plan, while the company said it had commissioned a noise survey which had shown that most events did not cause a nuisance, but that a few individuals had caused unnecessary noise.

It said some had been breaching their club's own noise limits strategies, but steps would be taken to prevent such breaches in future. It claimed the nuisance was "marginal".

In the latest twist in the saga, the case has now been to Selby Magistrates Court, where it emerged that an agreement had not yet been reached between the council and Elvington Park, and the matter would now go to an interim hearing, fixed for February 28 at York Magistrates Court.

The court decided that if an agreement had not been reached by then, a two-day trial would take place at Pickering Magistrates Court on March 7 and 8.

The council indicated it would go out to consultation with local residents over its proposals to curb noise before the interim hearing takes place.

District judge Martin Walker said he wanted the matter resolved as soon as possible, as the next vehicle testing season will be starting shortly.

Updated: 10:29 Thursday, January 26, 2006