The sole Cumbrian suppliers to one of the UK’s largest free-range egg brands have been given the go-ahead to expand their business.

Eric and Elaine Norman and their sons Craig and Michael have run a poultry business on their farm, supplying free-range eggs to The Happy Egg Company for the past six years.

Currently their farm at Little Orton, near Carlisle, is home to 32,000 hens, but last week city councillors gave the green light to a new building to house a further 16,000 chickens.

The Normans have farmed at Little Orton, near Carlisle, for the past 31 years and have shone in both local and national show rings over the years with their renowned herd of 300 Limousins.

The new building will provide accommodation for the free range birds on land near Moorhouse and Hosket Hill, outside Carlisle. Carlisle-based agents Harrison & Hetherington say it will help bolster an existing farming business.

Farmers across the county are struggling with farmgate prices and Mrs Norman said the only way forward for them was to expand.

The Normans currently employ 19 full-time workers, and two part-time, but say the expansion will mean a further two jobs.

“We cannot put any more hens on our current site, as they need room to roam,” Mrs Norman explained.

“The new unit will be about three miles away. You need a site with nothing around it, and one that has no other hen sheds nearby.

“Hens like peace and quiet and privacy.”

“We have predator covers on the site, so the hens feel safe,” she added.

The city council’s development control committee gave their backing to the structure last Friday.

The Happy Egg Company was originally set up in January 2009 by Noble Foods, and the brand philosophy is to put the welfare of hens first. The company claims to operate above established free-range egg production standards.

The company’s farms have assorted environmental enhancements.