HUNDREDS of residents attended a meeting calling for a playing field to be kept free to the public.

A meeting, organised by Cllr Malcolm Pritchard, was held at St Joseph’s Church in Belgarth Road on Wednesday to discuss plans from Accrington Stanley Community Trust to build a community sports hub on Highams Playing Fields.

At the meeting, a five-person committee was formed, chaired by Cllr Pritchard, and featuring four residents Jackie Rawstron, as secretary, and Erika Huntley, Alan Greenwood and Craig Pilkington.

The proposed £2million sports hub at the site will include a full-size floodlit 4G pitch, grass pitches and a community building.

The trust has not formally submitted plans yet but has appointed an architect and held a feasibility study into the plan.

However around 200 residents came out to voice their displeasure at the thought of the field being fenced off.

At the meeting, residents asked questions to Cllr Pritchard and Hyndburn Council Leader Cllr Miles Parkinson.

One resident at the meeting said: “It’ll be fenced off like a prison camp. This is our land, it needs to be kept open for the public. We don’t want that and we will fight this.”

Another said: “Hundreds of families are on the poverty line, we need to keep the fields open.”

Cllr Pritchard set up an online petition to the plans which has more than 785 signature.

He said at the meeting: “We want assurances the field will not be fenced off round the perimeter. Children should be free to go put their tops down and have a kick about. People should be able to walk their dog or ride their bike and enjoy the open space.

“How can the elderly be expected to walk to The Coppice if this is fenced off.”

A separately ran ‘SAVE Highams Playing Fields’ Facebook group also has around 525 supporters.

Cllr Parkinson said: “Any planning application has people for it and people against it. In principal, I support £2million of investment into the borough.”

During the meeting residents were asked to raise their hand if they supported the plans, with around three doing so.

At the meeting, Cllr Parkinson also said any plans will have to satisfy Sports England, Fields in Trust and borough solicitors before coming before the planning committee.

The community trust said had already said it will not be attending the meeting.

Prior to the meeting, a spokesman said: “We can confirm we will not be attending the meeting as we do not have the full sports hub plans to feedback to the public at the moment.

“Our position remains the same, once we have the full plans available, we will be holding a residents meeting to update the public and answer any questions on the proposals."