County gets an auto-barn!

But instead of pulling it down, the resourceful 69-year-old, from Cruckton, decided to fit the massive building with wheels and drag it to a different part of the farm using his tractor.

Mr Jones, who helped build the steel-framed Dutch barn nearly 50 years ago, came up with the ingenious idea after watching an American TV show.

The dairy farmer laid down channel lines, so the huge structure would not run out of control, before moving the barn.

He has hauled the 30ft-high building to different sites over the last week, with the final pull due to take place today.

"It's 90ft long, 25ft wide and 30ft high - so it's a big building," he said.

"We are altering the use of the old brick barns and we didn't want the Dutch barn against them.

"We were going to demolish it, but I thought it would be a shame. So we decided to put some wheels on and move it. They are pretty sturdy and can pull a tonne each."

The barn, which had stood on its former site since 1958, is mainly used for storing hay and straw.

It was built four years after the Jones family bought the farm in 1954.

Putting up a new one on an alternative site would been proved very expensive, Mr Jones said. But creating a mobile barn has saved the Shropshire farmer a hefty sum.

Now Mr Jones just has to double check with planning officials that he has not broken any rules.

"I got permission to remove it, but resiting it is another matter. So I'm hoping I'm on the right side of the law."

Mr Jones said the tough times that dairy farmers have experienced recently over the price of milk had led him to diversify and convert his outbuildings into properties to let.