THE protests of angry young football fans have failed to move councillors who turned down plans to develop Chippenham's new playing fields.

North Wiltshire District Council refused plans for an access to the fields, off the A4 between Chippenham and Pewsey, on safety grounds.

Cllr Jane Scott said: "I have always supported the playing fields but I have concerns about access because children will walk to it and there is no footpath or cycle route."

Arnie Highmore, chairman of FC Chippenham Youth, said: "I am disgusted. Five years' hard work has brought us to this position long years of campaigning, fighting and working with the council and now some individuals have come up with something to try and knock it back.

"I don't think they understand the needs of our young people and the work that has gone into this."

Mr Highmore organised a protest march, meeting at Market Place before going to the council offices in Monkton Place to lobby councillors.

Their efforts were to no avail as councillors went along with the recommendation of Wiltshire County Council's highways authority to turn the application down.

Town councillor Phil Anteney said he was disappointed with the result.

He said: "There is a grass verge where a footpath can be put. Once we have the entrance, we could get the extras done."

In its report the county council highways authority said it considered the access off Stanley Lane would be sufficient.

The report said: "An access onto the A4 is inappropriate and unnecessary. The A4 at this point is a fast, open stretch of road carrying around 16,000 vehicles per day and the introduction of the volume and type of turning traffic likely to be generated by the proposed use would, in my view, constitute an unacceptable hazard."

Mr Highmore said that this decision was a devastating set-back for the project and that the Stanley Lane access is totally unsuitable for the heavy use of cars and coaches.

He said: "It is over land not owned by the council, it is on a small country lane, it is close to the school entrance on a bend and it is at the top end of the 47-acre playing fields site."

He said that he could not understand the problem with the A4 access.

"The access would be smack bang in the middle with easy access to all parts of the site. It would also give the site the high profile it needs to attract all the required funding."

Sports enthusiasts have been campaigning for playing fields in Chippenham since December 1997, when 350 people from FC Chippenham and Chippenham Town Youth joined in a protest demonstration.