PLANNERS in Hyndburn look set to save a club from the bulldozer -- for the second time.

An outline application to turn Clayton-le-Moors Sports and Social Club into houses has been earmarked for refusal when it goes before the council's planning committee on Wednesday .

It is the second time the owners of the building, Bolton-based Fretlane Ltd, have tried to secure permission to build houses on the site of the Moor Street club.

In June they said the venue was losing £1,000 a month because customer numbers were too low, in spite of a new management team increasing takings.

That application was turned down when planners said the site was classed as green belt because it had a bowling green.

They also said there was sufficient housing in the borough, the sole reason for recommending refusal for the latest application.

The borough has a backlog of more than 900 unspent planning applications and has been forced to slash its annual housebuild from 200 to 110 because of new planning guidance.

Five months on from the last application landlady Angela Calvert, says business at the club is booming.

"I have got the pool team and snooker team up and running, which is making a big difference. It's going all right," she said.

"If the application is passed it doesn't mean they are going to build on it. They are quite happy the way things are at the moment. It's just something to fall back on, just another option for them."

Ward Councillor Tim O'Kane, said: "In a community like Clayton-le-Moors every single week someone has got either a 21st or 40th or some other celebration and it's useful to have somewhere to celebrate.

"The alternative is you have parties in houses and that's where you get neighbour nuisance complaints. In a club you have a controlled environment and the current landlord and landlady have done a really good job of keeping order."