Work at the site began without planning permission

S&A Property employs up to 2,000 seasonal workers at Brierley Court near Leominster in Herefordshire.

The government has backed a council decision that an amenities block is in breach of planning regulations.

But the farm's managing director Graham Neal said he believes it will eventually win its fight to provide the workers with decent facilities.

"Our agricultural workers have an entitlement to have reasonable facilities and not to be treated like second class citizens," he said.

More than �1m spent

"The amenity building is for 2,000 people to use. We can't just leave them in open countryside."

S&A Property's retrospective application to build at Brierley Court was rejected by Herefordshire Council in May 2004.

The company had already brought hundreds of caravans onto the site under permitted development rights and started constructing the amenities block for its workers which required planning permission.

It appealed against the council's decision and a public planning inquiry began. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) dismissed the appeal last Friday.

S&A has 93 days to comply but Mr Neal said it would not be bulldozing the development until the appeal had been heard.

Mr Neal said the company had so far spent more than �1m, including up to �400,000 in legal fees, building the village.

It was served with an injunction preventing any further work but the exterior was already completed and facilities including a training centre, medical facility, pool and table tennis tables, satellite television, internet and washing machines, have been set up inside.