A PUBLIC inquiry is to be held into plans to build a new housing development on an abandoned sports ground.

Proposals for 68 new homes - 34 detached and 34 semi-detached - on part of the former Lucas Sports Centre site, in Colne Road, Reedley, were approved by Pendle Council in December following extensive public consultation.

Plans for the site include provision for the football and cricket pitches to be up-graded and transferred to the ownership of the council. The facilities would have to be completed before the first house was built.

But the final decision on whether the development will go ahead will now rest with the Government following a public inquiry.

Despite being widely supported by local residents, who had been consulted over the plans, the application was called in by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister because Lancashire County Council planners objected to greenfield land being developed.

Pendle councillor Tonia Barton, who represents Reedley ward and is the chairman of the Brierfield and Reedley Committee, said: "We are disappointed that this decision has been called in because it was made following extensive consultation with local residents and offered Reedley Ward some badly needed sports facilities as part of the development.

"Lancashire County Council had given no indication during the planning process that they were opposed to this development and we regret that this decision has in effect been taken away from local people who are best placed to make an informed and practical conclusion to what has been a long-standing matter for concern and debate."

The sports ground was abandoned about 10 years ago and Sport England said the prospects for its re-use as a sports ground was "severely limited" without significant financial investment.

The site has been earmarked in the Local Plan - Pendle Council's blueprint for future development in the borough - for housing and sports facilities.

The public inquiry, by a government planning inspector, is expected to take place later this year, but no date has yet been set.