A PETITION has been launched to prevent allotments being built, a plan which would see Moreton Rangers lose one of their football pitches.

The council is assessing if land near Moreton Cemetery, in London Road, would be suitable for allotments.

If the plan goes ahead, land currently used by Moreton Rangers for their U10 team would be lost, which left their vice-chairman Martin Lewis "disappointed."

He said: "The football club is disappointed that the town council is considering this plan as we will lose a mini soccer pitch and we would have to look for somewhere else."

The football club has been using the land, owned by the town council for 15 years.

A petition by parents of children who play at Moreton Rangers started by Sophie Wise, which currently has 684 signatures, calls for the town council to not let the allotments be built there.

She said: "The council recently posted a notice of plans to develop the marked land adjacent to the London Road Cemetery into allotments.

"The land is currently ear marked as an extension to the top cemetery when it is full. It is currently used by Moreton Rangers Football club as an extra training pitch for the youth team.

"By developing allotments on this land and taking it away from the football club the town council are reducing the number of children the club can currently cater for as it is close to capacity.

"Being the only large organisation within the town for the children and youth of Moreton in Marsh it is imperative that this land stays as is and isn't developed on.

"Development of such allotments will cause further chaos within that part of the town as there is currently limited parking available and access points for said allotments have not yet been discussed.

"Please support your town and your club and stop this development."

A message issued by Tom Lewis, chairman of the town council said: "As previously announced and as part of our land review, we are proposing to examine our allotment provision: all outcomes of this examination will not in any way reduce the total number of allotments available.

"n addition, subject to future demand, the council may well seek additional allotment sites from housing developers.

"A current proposal, subject to consultation and ratification by the Council, is to relocate those at "Croft" to one or more other sites so that the land at "Croft" can be used in due course for other purposes beneficial to the town.

"As part of this consultation the council is seeking views on the suitability of land behind the Top Cemetery for use as allotments and will meet with the National Allotment Association in early February to discuss these matters.

"It should be clearly noted that no final decisions will be taken until the necessary consultations with stakeholders have been undertaken."