FAMILIES fear that plans for a pub on Kingsmead may attract drunken louts and stir up a whole lot of trouble.

They are protesting against proposals for the premises, even though a planning application has not yet been submitted.

Tony Leigh, of Buckingham Drive, is worried that crime and noise may erupt on the peaceful estate.

He said: "This is going to attract people from all over the area. I'm worried that there will be more crime and trouble on the estate. People will also congregate outside.

"I'm a family man and I'm worried that my kids won't be able to play out."

Tony first discovered that a pub may be built on Regency Way when he spotted a sign whilst walking his dog.

"I didn't know a thing about it until I saw a notice which was stapled to a post.

"It stated that Simon Christopher Lees Jones of JW Lees and Co, Manchester, would be applying for a licence to sell alcohol at a premises in Kingsmead

"All the neighbours are gobsmacked about it, they didn't know a thing about it."

Another Kingsmead resident, who asked not to be named, added: "I am in complete agreement with Mr Leigh. More importantly, how about a Kingsmead Primary School, which we have been promised since the estate first opened? Other local primary schools must be over-subscribed due to the large amount of families who have since moved here," she said.

But a spokesman for the planning authority said that an application had not been made for a pub to be built on the Kingsmead estate.

He suspects that the company has put up the notice to see what sort of a response it will get.

"We have not yet received a planning application but we're instructed that one is imminent for the local centre of Kingsmead," said the spokesman.

JW Lees and Co was unavailable for comment when the Guardian went to press last night, Tuesday.

These plans are not connected to those of Gooch Webster, mentioned in the main story above.

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