Martin Robins, managing director of Farmington Stone, graphically demonstrates his point after Cherwell District Council in Oxfordshire said Farmington stone was the wrong colour.

He took his bucket and a piece of walling stone into the office of the council\'s chief executive to demonstrate the effect of weathering on the stone.

I went to his office and put the new stone into the bucket of water, says Robins, And, behold! Just a few minutes later it had taken on the weathered hue they were looking for.

The trouble with a lot of planning officials is that they just don\'t appreciate that today\'s much loved Cotswold stone buildings were all creamy when they were new. What the tourists and residents love so much is the effect of hundreds of years of weathering.