ANGRY residents are crying foul over plans to build "a soccer dome as big as the Titanic" in their picturesque Ribble Valley village.

Blackburn Rovers wants to erect the 14-metre high building in Brockhall Village to house a special soccer school for youngsters.

Concerned villagers claim the structure will blight an area of beautiful countryside.

But Rovers bosses say the site is earmarked for industrial development and the structure is "fundamental" to the success of the scheme.

Blackburn Rovers has been chosen by the Football Association as one of the first clubs in the UK to operate one of the top academies. It will be housed in a 36,000 sq ft arena and offer soccer training to local youngsters between the ages of nine and 19.

It is hoped that some of them will pursue professional footballing careers as a result.

But more than 60 residents packed the Black Bull Hotel, Old Langho, last night for an emergency meeting on the matter. Parish councillor Nick Cooper said the soccer dome will be "as big as the Titanic and blight an area of beautiful countryside."

Parish council chairman Graham Sowter said he "welcomed a sports academy at Brockhall," but "strongly objected" to the proposed location.

"The height and bulk of the structure is excessive and it will represent a gross visual intrusion in an open rural location. It will be visible from many vantage points in the surrounding area," he said.

He told the meeting that he hoped negotiations would result in the building being moved to "a more suitable part of Brockhall," where it could be "more readily and effectively screened from its surroundings." Fellow councillor Nick Cooper added: "This is completely the wrong site for such a huge building."

Brockhall developer Gerald Hitman went to the meeting and was allowed to stay after Mr Sowter had suggested his presence might "put people off speaking their minds."

"I live in Brockhall and the last thing I am going to do is spoil it.

" If there is something you don't like, talk to me, then positive things can happen," he told the meeting.

And Rovers bosses have said the site is designated for industrial use and planning permission is already in place for buildings of a "similar size."

"The site already has designated use and, if it isn't used for the indoor centre, will be used for something else.

"That's all we want to say at the moment," club secretary Tom Finn said.

The matter is to be debated by the Ribble Valley Council's planning committee shortly.

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