A new sports pitch will be built at a junior school which raised more than £200,000 to pay for the facility – despite concerns from neighbours about noise and light pollution.

Plans for The Minster Junior School to build a 3G pitch  at the school in Warrington Road were given the green light by Croydon Council.

Fencing and lighting was also approved.

But nearby residents raised concerns about the effects the pitch would have on their lives at a planning meeting on Thursday, February 14.

Speaking against the application were David and Angela Kelly who live in St Leonard’s Road at the rear of where the pitch will be.

They were joined at the meeting by about 10 other residents all concerned about light and sound pollution from the pitch.

Mr Kelly said he objected to the pitch being so close to houses and said that during the autumn and winter the existing trees would do nothing to shield homes from the flood lighting.

Mrs Kelly said she was speaking on behalf of the residents of Ludford Close and 42 flats overlooking the playing fields.

“If you intend to accept the recommendation, we would like you to reconsider the hours of use to 6pm and for it not to be used on public holidays,” she said.

Ward councillor Joy Prince, who is a planning committee member, did not vote on the plans, instead speaking against them.

Cllr Prince said she is not against the proposal in principal but thought the operating hours were too long for a primary school.

“The artificial lighting is going to be on until quite late hours and the trees are not going to be any good as a noise barrier,” she added.

Director of planning at Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, said that there is already a sports pitch at the school and stressed the 10m tall floodlights would be fitted with ‘baffles’ to absorb some of the extra light.

Deputy chair of the planning committee, Cllr Paul Scott, said with childhood obesity on the up “we need to make sure facilities are provided”.

He added: “The important thing is that the impact on neighbours is minimised as much as reasonably possible.”

The plans were approved unanimously by the committee – but with conditions.

These are that there is extra landscaping to create a buffer of trees between the pitch and homes, there must be an 8pm finish and that lighting levels must be monitored and the lights switched off when not in use.

When the plans were first submitted there was concerns that they would be made of rubber crumb – a potentially cancer causing material.

But the school’s business manager, Andrea Lee, later clarified that the pitch will be sand based.

The planning permission for the new pitch will be valid for three years and it allows for the floodlights to be used from Monday to Saturday.