ANGRY residents have hit out at plans for new sports facilities at a York school - claiming they threaten a 'quiet, attractive area'.

Plans to create a multi-use games area (MUGA) at Millthorpe School, which would be used by schools around the York community, have been submitted to be funded by City of York Council as part of the expansion of nearby Scarcroft Primary.

The plans will see an artificial grass, all-weather, floodlit pitch and new netball/tennis courts at Millthorpe School, with new car parking on the Millthorpe site.

Eileen Coughlin, of Albermarle Road, said she and many other local residents opposed the plans, which she claimed had grown since they were originally submitted, and would see trees felled to make space for parking.

She said she was happy with the initial plans, but the latest version was "too much".

“If it was just for the school, just a small one, that would be okay, but not to open until 10pm with floodlights. Traffic is already bad as it is. We’re supposed to be saving trees, but not to be cutting them down.”

A leaflet handed to local residents is encouraging them to have their say on the application on the City of York Council website by close of play today, listing concerns over traffic, security and noise and light pollution.

It reads: “We have no objection to a smaller-scale facility that will benefit children from the local schools, which is what was originally intended, provided this is done correctly with proper consultation with local residents. However, the scale of the MUGA that is now being proposed poses a major threat to our quiet, attractive, residential area.”

Trevor Burton, head teacher at Millthorpe School, said the current plans followed extensive consultation with the public - which has been public since at least January 2018.

He said: “We haven’t got a great amount of facilities in the local area. It has to be open to the community, that’s what we want but these facilities don’t run themselves, they have to be maintained and we need evening opening to fund and maintain the facilities.

“We’re not making any profit from it, just maintaining it. Millthorpe has always opened the school facilities to other schools for free if they haven’t got facilities available to them.” On Thursday, the plans had 50 objections on the council planning website, including some residents who have filed more than one, and 21 supporting comments.