Residents living near Lambrok Recreation Ground in Studley Green, Trowbridge, are unhappy after the town council approved plans for railings to be put up on the field without consulting them.

Trowbridge Wanderers Football Club, the town council’s tenants at Lambrok, were required to have a safety rail around the perimeter of the pitch after being promoted to a higher league.

The football club sought the advice of the town council and also of the planning authority, as required by the lease, but they did not require planning permission and clerk Lance Allan approved the installation of the railings.

However, residents living nearby in Azalea Drive believe they should have been consulted.

One resident, Mandy Blake, said: “We are not against the football team playing there and having a barrier, but a lot of people didn’t even know it was happening until work started. We believe it is a public open space and they should have held a meeting.

“Temporary barriers could have been taken down when the football season finished, allowing kids to make use of the whole field, not just a restricted space.”

This issue was discussed at a direct service committee meeting on Tuesday last week and was approved unanimously by the nine councillors present. However, councillors Jeff and Helen Osborn have put forward a motion about the installation of the railings to be debated at the next full council meeting on September 16.

The motion says: “No effort has been made to fully inform or involve local residents. A public meeting to openly discuss and clarify all related matters, and their implications, should have been arranged.”

Bob Brice, leader of Trowbridge Town Council and ward member for Lambrok Ward, said: “At no time has this field been a public amenity. It has always been a sports field with pitches on it.

“I therefore had no difficulty in authorising the clerk to approve the installing of pitch railings.”