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An engineering firm has launched a legal battle against developers Persimmon Homes (South West) following a row over a 50-acre site in Cornwall.

The dispute centres around fees for the planning application of a major residential development.

Jacobs is claiming around 拢252,000, after Persimmon refused to pay two invoices the engineering firm issued for the preparation and submittal of a planning application, a high court writ says.

Persimmon entered into an option agreement in August 2006, with a consortium of landowners, in a bid to win planning consent on the site. Later that month, the firm asked Jacobs to prepare and submit a planning application for the scheme.

In January 2007, Persimmon wrote to Jacobs with a revised copy of its pre-planning brief, as a result of which, Jacobs claims Persimmon agreed to pay it for its services, set out in hourly rates.

The developer issued a withholding notice for the second larger invoice, which totalled nearly 拢300,000.

But Jacobs has disputed its validity, claiming Persimmon's grounds for withholding payment were 鈥渋nsufficiently detailed and spurious鈥�, the writ said.

Jacobs is seeking payment of its invoices in full plus interest.