PENDLE'S civic leaders do not want a new super school to be built on playing fields in Brierfield.

Nelson and Brierfield councillors have objected to Lancashire County Council's plans to create a 1,050-place secondary school on Bent Head playing fields and said it should be built on the existing Edge End School site instead.

The proposed Marsden Heights Community College would replace Mansfield and Edge End high schools as part of the multi-million Building Schools for the Future scheme.

But Pendle Council's Nelson Committee members said sports facilities should be provided at Bent Head.

And a Brierfield and Reedley Committee meeting has called for plans by Pendle Council and Lancashire County Council to swap land at Edge End for Bent Head to be abandoned.

The committees are being consulted on the plans but the final decision will rest with the county council.

Residents are concerned about traffic, access to the new school through Edge End Lane, loss of green space and the possibility of building a footpath over part of an old graveyard next to the site.

Reedley councillor Pauline McCormick said: "I am not against a new school but we don't necessarily need it where Lancashire County Council say we do.

"The graveyard belonged to the Congregational church. People buried their relatives there 100 years ago expecting them to be buried there forever and that is right.

"Local people use Bent Head. Children play there. The only facilities left in the area would be organised facilities."

Roy Hubbard, of Roseland Avenue, Brierfield, said the residents' use of the field had helped keep a sense of community spirit and identity.

Nelson resident Frances Singh said: "If Edge End Lane became the entrance to a new super school the lane would be horrendously busy. It would become almost a main road. It's not wide enough to accommodate a high volume of traffic."

Her comments were echoed by councillors worried about the plan's effect on the area's roads. Nelson Committee chairman Coun David Foster said: "If we look at the playing fields and the conservation area, why can't we turn it into a sporting area and keep it as open land? We require this school, there's no doubt about it.

"People in Brierfield and people in Nelson want to keep that open space."