A WORLD-renowned horse doctor from Melksham has won the right to live near his sick animal patients.

Tex Gamble, of the New Road Stables, has been living with his wife and nine-year-old daughter in a converted stable for the past year.

Wanting to be close to the sick horses, Mr Gamble has faced an uphill battle with planners at West Wiltshire District Council to continue living at the New Road site.

A former osteopath, Mr Gamble treats up to 40 animals at any one time with his list of high-profile customers including royalty and celebrities.

But he won his fight on Thursday as members of the northern area committee agreed to let him stay in his home for another five years, or until he leaves the practice.

Intending to invest a further £50,000 in the business, he now hopes to take on a partner to help him deal with the increasing influx of sick horses. He also plans to take-on a full-time groom.

Injured horses can take up to six months to make a full recovery.

Mr Gamble applied to get permission for a caravan on the site in 1996 but the application was refused.

Taking his plight to the Planning Inspectorate, he won the right to live on his New Road base, but his three-year condition ran out this month.

Three-day eventer Mark Todd was one of the many celebrity equestrian riders who supported Mr Gamble's application to remain at his stable base.

During the foot-and-mouth crisis the horse doctor found business slumped with referrals to his practice reaching an all-time low.

Business has recovered and now 61 horses are stabled waiting for treatment.

In the last five years there have only been five weeks when the stables have been empty.

Melksham Without Parish Council lodged an objection to the development.

Councillors said if Mr Gamble was allowed to develop an area of open countryside it would set an "unhelpful precedent."

Planners denied the council's claims saying the Melksham business provided a "special service to the equestrian community."