A SCHOOL has been accused of "ripping the heart out of the community" after it blocked off playing fields used as a village green.

Campaigners have won the first round of their battle to get the 2m- high security fence removed from Helmshore County Primary School's fields after councillors on Rossendale's planning committee agreed with residents.

Councillors made a recommendation to refuse retrospective application to the planning authority - Lancashire County Council - after more than 900 people signed a petition to bring down the fence.

The meeting was told that the governing body at the Gregory Fold school erected the fence on the county council-owned land to protect children and to stop them wandering off.

But locals said the field was big enough to fence off a part, leaving the rest for community use.

Keith Pilkington, who helped set up Helmshore Action Group, was at Rossendale's development control meeting with nearly 100 other campaigners to show the extent of feeling in the community.

He said: Helmshore School was my first school over 50 years ago. Since then I and thousands of others have played on the field which is in effect the village green.

"The fence was erected without planning approval and without any notice or consultation to the local community when the school must have known it would be hugely controversial. All attempts to get the school to respond have failed and the school has declined to respond to correspondence from this council.

"People of all ages are vehemently opposed to this which denies the local community access to a community facility which they have been using for the past 70 years."

He added: "The size of the fence is inappropriate. It's ripped the heart out of our community."

Refusal was recommended on the grounds that access has been allowed for the past 70 years and loss of amenity.

No-one at the school was today available to comment.