Developers aiming to build a controversial gas plant in North Yorkshire have lodged an appeal.

North Yorkshire County Council failed to make a decision on the proposed facility on the edge of the North York Moors National Park last year, and developer Moorland Energy has appealed to the Planning Inspectorate.

The plant would be one of the biggest in the north of England and opponents have claimed it risks ruining the countryside.

Moorland Energy’s chief executive, Lawrie Erasmus, said: “We have been reluctant to proceed to an appeal on the basis of non-determination [of the planning application] by the local authorities and would much have preferred the local democratic process to have been completed.”

A council spokeswoman said: “There is an ongoing exchange of correspondence between the two parties, but rather than choose to pursue the application with the council, the applicant has chosen to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.”