PUPILS at a Rossendale school are celebrating after planners gave the go-ahead to build a new sports hall at the site.

The re-submitted plans at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School were approved after the size of the proposed sports hall was reduced by 208 square metres, and conditions about building materials were met.

Parents and school governors have helped raise £1million to fund the project at the Glen Road school.

But residents, who have lived next to the school for 25 years, say they are being forced out of their homes because of the school's expansion over the years.

Earlier this week, Lancashire County Council announced it had given the go-ahead to the school putting up three temporary classrooms.

Disgruntled resident Tony Cordey, of Wolfenden Green, Waterfoot, voiced his concerns at Thursday night's development control meeting at the Astoria, Rawtenstall.

He said: "Anyone with any oil in their lamp would oppose these plans living where we live. It's our dream home which we bought 25 years ago to enjoy, with the company of my grandchildren. If this proposal goes ahead I am being forced out of my home that I, and my family, cherish.

"It will deny us any privacy and dwarf our home. It will feel like we have moved onto an industrial estate. The sports hall will become an echo chamber with noise coming round my home day and night."

Councillors were sent hundreds of letters in support of the application, including a 300-name petition from pupils at the school.

The building, which will also boast two fitness studios on the first floor and two classrooms on the second floor, will be artificial stone to help insulate the sports hall.

It will be open six days a week for the use of students at BRGS, and pupils at Waterfoot Primary School.

David Heap, chairman of governors at BRGS, said: "The current gym is the same as I used as a boy almost 50 years ago. We now have almost 1,200 pupils. The OFSTED report of 1992 said the facilities for PE were poor. This isn't a luxury, it's an absolute necessity. We have raised £1million -- which is the chance of a lifetime for these children."