MALMESBURY Lawn Tennis Club has been given the go-ahead to add floodlighting to its courts despite concerns from residents .

The club will build nine 6.7-metre floodlight columns at its Tetbury Hill courts.

Permission for the work was granted at a meeting of North Wiltshire District Council's area planning committee in Crudwell.

Neighbours of the club had raised concerns that the floodlights would shine into bedrooms facing the courts.

But councillors have said that if any problems are experienced, the application could be reconsidered.

Coun Alison Bucknell said: "We have no reason to take measures on something that might or might not happen.

"If the neighbours have a problem when the lights are put up that should be addressed.

"We could be creating a rod for our own backs because we are trying to be helpful but there is not much more we can do."

David Hide, the chairman of the tennis club, said: "We are most anxious to ensure that we are considerate to our neighbours, both those overlooking and those nearby to the courts."

He said that he hoped that the lights would be installed by the end of next year or in early 2003, but that funding for them needed to be raised first.

The proposed system is an American one, designed to distribute light in a downward direction using multi-sided reflectors and thereby minimising glare.

Coun Peter Doyle has suggested that different techniques could be used to muffle the glare from the floodlights.

"I agree we don't know all the answers but I think there must be an engineering solution to this," he said.

"I am in favour of the proposal but have concerns that we should be looking at alternatives to the existing nylon mesh arrangement.

"It is something that, were we to get right, could be adopted in other proposals, similar to this."

Coun John Thomson said the committee should ask the developer to install a wire mesh over the lighting.

But Coun Michelle Phillips, who has had first-hand experience of playing tennis under American floodlights while living in the US, said she had no doubts that the lights would be suitable.