Businessman David Leaton has finally won a seven-year battle to get rid of his scrapyard.

He first applied to planners to end his car-breaking business at Monkey Farm back in October 2015.

Outline permission was granted in November 2017 after he was forced to pay for a wad of expensive reports and surveys including a detailed heritage assessment as the site, at the entrance to Sheerness, is next to a canal labelled a national monument.

Now Swale council has given him the go-ahead to begin work after approving his amended plans for 12 workshops and a showroom.

Islanders have visited the car breakers for generations in search of spare engines, gearboxes and hard-to-find switches.

The 1.3 acres in Halfway Road could be a like an Aladdin’s cave for some.

But for most, the scrap metal is a blot on the landscape. Even Mr Leaton admitted the mountain of precariously balanced rusting wrecks of old cars and crashed vans directly opposite the Welcome to Sheerness sign was an eyesore.

So he devised a radical plan to dump all the vehicles and replace them with a showroom, offices, warehouses and light industrial units.

He admitted: “I’m getting too old to be a car-breaker. Don’t get me wrong, the business has been good to me. But it’s a messy site and I think everyone would agree it’s in the wrong place.

“I think all my neighbours will be overjoyed – especially the caravan park next door when holidaymakers will no longer see, hear or, indeed, smell the car breakers.”

He lodged outline planning permission with Swale council but the road to regeneration was never smooth. He said: “I thought the council would bite my hand off to tidy this area but all I’ve had is hurdles.”

One giant stumbling block was the canal, otherwise known as the Queenborough Lines. They were designated an ancient monument in 2012 which means anything built near them must be approved by Historic England.

But Mr Leaton, who had run the business since 1990, refused to give up. His architect John Burke met ancient monument inspector Paul Roberts and the pair thrashed out an agreement.

Mr Leaton, who on holiday this week, previously promised: “It will be an incredible improvement. It will clean up the area and provide space for start-up businesses or those needing to move from the Klondyke industrial estate in Rushenden which is being pulled down for houses.

“Currently we employ three to four people. This development could create 30 to 100 jobs for the Island. It’s a win-win situation.”

It will include car parking for 43 vehicles and spaces for 10 bicycles.