GRAPPENHALL Sports Club's existing clubhouse is to be flattened to make way for a new facility in the village.

The existing clubhouse on Stockton Lane is to be demolished and replaced by a new clubhouse, tennis courts and floodlighting.

As reported in the Warrington Guardian earlier this month, the venue is to be become a sporting centre in the village.

Now council planners have given the final approval to the radical proposals. Work is set to begin on the site next month with building set for completion in spring.

The work is being funded by the sale of Grappenhall Tennis Club's former home on Bradshaw Lane and will provide much improved facilities for the tennis club and Grappenhall Football Club.

And with 100 members playing tennis and 200 in the football ranks, it is hoped the site will develop into a sporting mecca.

The tennis club was given the green light to sell its home for £1.2million to developers Prestigious Living Group earlier this month.

It will develop the site into 24 homes - despite the protests of neighbours who claim the area is already densely populated and that the extra traffic will merely add to the woes of the heavily congested Bradshaw Lane.