TWO north Cotswolds sports clubs have raised concerns about the handling of a housing development in their village.

Bourton Rovers Football Club and Bourton Vale Lawn Tennis Club have issued a statement expressing concern about the way in which Cotswold District Council planners dealt with the application to build the five homes at Sunnycroft in the village.

The clubs claim that changes to the development following the granting of planning permission have increased the size of its "footprint" and narrowed the adjacent access lane to their clubs, raising safety concerns for pedestrians using the lane at the same time as vehicles.

"Ourselves and many local residents are very concerned about the way in which Cotswold District Council has allowed a development to take place even though there have been some planning errors which the planning and enforcement departments have on occasion chosen to ignore," said the clubs.

They argue that they should have been notified of any amendments to the original plans.

"If such a major amendment such as a change of footprint had been tabled it would have a major impact on our clubs and other users of the lane and as such would have warranted our comments," they said.

Both clubs have raised the matter with the parish council, which asked CDC when the amended plans were approved. This information was not forthcoming and the parish council was told it could play no further part in the matter.

"As nobody has been given the information they requested from CDC, we can only assume that the amended plans did not gain proper approval," said the clubs.

A CDC spokesman said: "With regard to the application at Sunnycroft in Bourton, Cotswold District Council does not believe that the very slight variations from the original approval that it has identified have caused any harm to those who live nearby, the adjoining lane or the area in general."

The parish council advised the clubs that they could make a complaint to the Ombudsman.