An agreement has been reached ending opposition to a controversial crematorium development in Cromer.

Campaigners have announced they are dropping a legal challenge against a decision to grant planning permission for the £3m project on Holt Road.

Bristol based developer Westerleigh Group is now set to start work on the crematorium, the first in north Norfolk, in the spring.

It follows an agreement between the company and campaigning AONB Action Group that had been pursuing the court action.

Action group co-ordinator William Macadam said: 'This will ensure that the development will now proceed in a sensitive way. We appreciate Westerleigh's willingness to hear and address problems in the best way that we believe they can be for both parties.'

The site is owned by Cromer Town Council, which last month rejected proposals from the action group to create a grass bank screening the site and separate exit routes from the crematorium and neighbouring cemetery on to Davey Hill.

Councillor David Pritchard, who has lead negotiations on the crematorium, welcomed the news that the scheme could now proceed.

He said: 'This is a much needed facility that will benefit the people of Cromer and nearby towns and villages. I am absolutely overwhelmed by the fact that all the work that has gone into this has come to a successful conclusion.'

Westerleigh has also pledged to donate more than £20,000 towards a long awaited roundabout at the junction of the A148 and Felbrigg road close to Cromer.

The company's development director Adrian Britton said: 'Westerleigh has taken into account the local concerns and tried to meet them and we now look forward to providing a crematorium facility for the area that will be in everyone's interest.'

The application for the crematorium was unanimously refused by North Norfolk's District Council's development committee in June 2014, but approved on appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

A High Court appeal by the AONB Action group was dismissed in November, with campaigners now deciding against mounting a further legal challenge.