A MAN who breeds some of the world's rarest reptiles says his animals will have to go if planners turn down his planning application.

Jerry Cole, who has bred animals that are nearly extinct in the wild, said he could not carry on his work if planners closed down his enterprise at his farm near Dorchester.

Mr Cole is seeking retrospective permission for a change of use from agricultural to the breeding of exotic animals at Purlands Farm on Bridport Road.

But case officer Darren Rogers is recommending refusal by West Dorset District Council's development control committee on Thursday. In a report to members he says the proposal for a two-storey building should be refused because of its setting in open countryside.

He states that the circumstances are not special enough to outweigh the breach of planning policies caused by continued use of the site.

But experts on rare reptiles are urging committee members to support Mr Cole and grant permission for his BJ Herp Supplies business.

And Mr Cole said today that without planning permission he would have to close.

He said: "It isn't viable or feasible to move anywhere else.

"It would mean dispersing the collection of animals I've got here and I wouldn't even have anywhere to live. It would be the end of it."

Mr Cole, 46, bought six acres of the farm 10 years ago. He lives in a caravan on the site to be close to the reptiles and other animals round the clock.

His breeding successes include hatching Fiji banded iguanas and Cuviers dwarf cayman - a type of alligator.

The Fiji banded iguanas that hatched last year were the first ever bred in the UK - three more hatched this week.

Mr Cole has sent rare animals to zoos and wildlife parks in this country and abroad to help maintain stocks of creatures that are in peril of dying out in the wild.

Dr Jim Collins of the National Association of Private Animal Keepers is among the experts backing Mr Cole.

He states in a letter to the district council: "The collection of reptiles owned by Mr Cole represents one of the foremost in the UK."

He adds: "Such are his successes that Mr Cole is well respected among professional zoologists and breeders, not only in the UK but also across continental Europe and the US."

Richard Brook of the International Herpetological Society describes Mr Cole's husbandry as second to none.

And Marc Ormond, curator of the reptile house at Cotswold Wildlife Park, states that Mr Cole's work has led to breakthroughs.

He states: "His work helps preserve species in captivity that will otherwise become extinct in the wild."

Mr Cole also keeps parrots, rats and mice, and snakes as well as sheep that are used to keep the grass down.

He said: "If the council closes me down then that's it - I can't go anywhere else. And this place is suitable for what I do in a way that nowhere else would be."