CAMPAIGNERS battling against proposals for a "monstrosity" of a £4 million cattle market in their quiet rural community may take legal action.

As reported Monmouthshire council has approved plans for a new cattle market in Bryngwyn, near Raglan.

The 40,000 square feet livestock building, proposed by Abergavenny Market Auctioneers Limited, will be 33 feet high, with parking spaces for 40 cars and 130 lorries.

It will be built on a ten-acre site off the old Abergavenny to Raglan road.

Local residents oppose the plan which they consider a "blot on the landscape" because of noise, pollution, possible contamination and traffic levels.

The site will have the capacity to house up to 2,400 sheep and 790 cattle, and the increase in traffic will affect their quality of life.

And campaigners were dealt another blow after learning the Assembly will not be calling in the plan - a move which could have signalled an inquiry.

Today, a campaigner with the Bryngwn Rural Community Action Group, Sam Inglefield confirmed local residents are now taking legal advice.

"We're not in a position to discuss what form that will take yet but I can tell you the fight is far from over," said the 71-year-old, who has lived in Bryngwyn for 31 years.

He added that the plan made "little commercial sense" given the current state of the livestock industry and questioned why Monmouthshire council was investing in the plan.

"What is the need for this monster in the middle of our countryside - what happens if it becomes redundant at some later date?

"The buildings would be purpose-built and have no other use."

Campaigners say the cattlemarket plans should be challenged because they are more than just a replacement for Abergavenny, covering an area once served by Newport and Monmouth markets, but Monmouthshire's executive member for planning Bob Greenland said the planning process had "reached its democratic conclusion".

He added:"This will help sustain the farming industry of Monmouthshire well into the 21st Century.

"What we now need to do is to put all the other building bricks into place that will make up the scheme for the regeneration of Abergavenny."