A DISPUTE over quarrying on the Portland Coastal Strip has been settled by Dorset County Council and Portland Stone Firms Ltd.

The matter was due to be heard by a Lands Tribunal in June but has now been settled. Compensation will be paid by the county council - which will be reimbursed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) - but the amount has not been disclosed to the public.

Stone Firms Ltd had claimed £18m but this was disputed by the county council.

Landowners and their quarry operators were entitled to claim compensation for any losses that resulted directly from the modification of the planning permission.

The row arose when planning permission granted in 1951 for quarrying on the coastal strip was amended in 2009 to protect a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

A spokesman for the county council said: "The county council will seek to enter dialogue with Stone Firms Ltd about any future stone extraction from the Coastal Strip. 

"The company and the council have agreed to work together to ensure that the impacts of any future operations can be minimised. 

"The council will be encouraging Stone Firms Ltd to extract stone by mining where possible rather than open quarrying in accordance with its policies."

Stone Firms has previously claimed it may be forced to push ahead with plans to quarry the stone in the area if a tribunal didn't rule in its favour.