Heritage campaigners have hit out at the "depressing" decision to build a huge test track for driverless cars on the site of the Battle of Bosworth.

A council planning committee voted overwhelmingly in favour of allowing Japanese-owned automotive company Horiba Mira to build a new £26 million testing facility on the battlefield.

The decision to build a 1.2 million square foot test track prompted outcry as more than 4,000 people signed a petition calling for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council to reject the plans.

But the move to allow cars to be tested at speeds approaching 155mph on the site where Richard III was defeated by Henry Tudor in 1485 was backed by 12 votes to five.

A spokesman for heritage charity The Battlefields Trust said it was "a very depressing result". He added: "This country is going to lose a massive heritage asset."