Athletics chiefs warn that youngsters will suffer if councils scrap plans to create a new sports complex at an East Lancashire high school.

Ian Coffey, of Hyndburn Athletics Club, says residents living near Moorhead High School, Accrington, should think twice before continuing to oppose plans to create a new floodlit athletics track, and six soccer pitches at the school.

Residents say the scheme would have a disastrous affect on their area, arguing that floodlights will cause noise pollution and the late night use of the centre, which includes a sports bar, will lead to noise pollution, litter and crime.

The scheme won the support of Hyndburn Council until residents protested. Now a full meeting of the council will decide if they want the scheme, before passing their recommendations to Lancashire County Council, which will decide the project's fate.

Mr Coffey said: "If the scheme is rejected, the children are the people who will miss out.

"We work with a lot of children at our base on Wilson's playing fields in Clayton-le-Moors but those facilities don't even start to compare with what is being proposed at Moorhead."

The Moorhead Residents' Association opposes several parts of the scheme, including the use of floodlights late at night and the introduction of a public announcement system.

They say the site will cause house prices to tumble, claiming the plans presented to Hyndburn Council are inaccurate.

But Mr Coffey added: "Restrictions will be imposed by the County Council so that the residents don't suffer.

"They are objecting to something which will benefit the whole community. Not all the residents are opposed to it, just a minority who are making a lot of noise."

Keith Pilkington, chairman of the Moorhead Residents Association, said they had employed a solicitor to try and find a way for the plans to go to a public inquiry.

Following a residents' protest meeting last week, council leader Peter Britcliffe decided to give the whole council the chance to discuss the plan, even though it had already been approved by the development services committee.

He said: "It is only fair to give the whole council the chance to discuss such an important issue. I want the residents to feel as though we have given them a chance to be involved."

But Mr Coffey added: "It doesn't seem like democracy when the council suddenly goes back on its decisions, just because a few people don't like them."