The council voted 12-2 in favour of the plans yesterday afternoon, at the end of a four-hour meeting and a visit to the 27-acre greenfield site with local residents and directors from the Norwich firm.

NJP now has a 21-day wait to see if the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will choose to "call in", or re-examine, the council's decision on the scheme.

Human resources director Greg Kane said that he would be "surprised" if the ODPM decides to call in the plans. The company hopes to commence work at the site within a month.

The first stage of the project will be to clear the site and build and plant a mound around the site, at a cost of around 600,000.

"There's a planting season which ends towards the end of March, and the council are keen that the earthworks and planting take place to begin to reduce the visual impact as soon as possible," said Kane. "Landscaping the site is a significant task, but we are trying to establish something that shows off print at its very best and reflects our image as a quality printer, and fits in with the rural Norfolk landscape."

At yesterday's site visit around 15 local residents from the adjoining Harts Farm housing estate, which is separated from the NJP site by a railway line, turned out to protest against the plans.

They fear the plant will create noise and light pollution, and argue that planning permission should not have been granted because the site falls outside the town's unitary development plan boundary.

Kane said: "The piece of land we were looking at was always likely to be brought inside the zone when that plan was revised in a year's time, so that's why the council felt comfortable stepping outside the plans."

Story by Josh Brooks