A SOUTH Lakeland town may lose the use of its playing fields if £5 million of water works go ahead.

United Utilities has been carrying out investigations at the Yew Tree Road playing fields, Grange-over-Sands, with a view to installing a 30ft storm water storage tank underground to improve the quality of bathing water in the Kent Channel.

But residents are concerned that the work will put a vital community asset out of commission for at least a year.

Ian Turner, of Yew Tree Road, said the site was used by Grange Football Club, local children and a toddlers’ play group.

He said: “If this goes ahead the playing field would be out of commission for at least 12 months. Houses in Yew Tree Road would be greatly affected with noise and dust from heavy traffic passing through.

“Grange Football Club plays there most Saturdays and there are all sorts of events through the summer, including an antique car show, which would have to go elsewhere.

“Children play there every day, especially in the summer. It would be disastrous if they decided to place the tank on the football pitches. We need to think laterally about this. There are other places where they could place the tank - like at the old Berners swimming pool.”

But Stuart Akister, secretary of Grange Football Club, said: “These plans are not definite yet. If they go ahead we will have to think properly about it but at the moment we are not too worried.”

The playing fields include tennis courts, football pitches and a children’s playground.

At the last meeting of Grange Town Council, councillors expressed concern about the plans and agreed to write to United Utilities and South Lakeland District Council to query the scheme.

Polly Rourke, of United Utilities, said a tank would reduce the number of times overflow pipes discharged into the estuary during heavy summer storms. She said: “The project is still in the planning stages but it will be important for the local environment and is part of United Utilities’ current £3.6bn investment programme across the North West.

“We would like to reassure residents and people who use the park that we will do everything possible to keep any disruption to the absolute minimum.

“At this stage we are looking at a number of options and any scheme we propose will be subject to agreement with the Environment Agency, relevant highways, planning authorities, and landowners. It’s likely to be more than a year before anything starts on site.”