Warwick Boat Club has been given the green light to install three padel courts over two of its existing tennis courts.

The Banbury Road club was last year given temporary permission to keep a 'pop up' court which it installed without permission.

The planning committee at Warwick District Council (WDC) allowed the court to stay in place until March 2026 as neighbours complained about the potential noise impact.

And now a fresh application for the facility has been approved by the same committee despite the objection of Warwick Town Council.

At this week's meeting, Cllr Oliver Jacques told his district colleagues: "There is simply no mitigation offered for the additional light pollution resulting from the proposed new court layout.

"We are concerned over the impact on neighbours of prolonged use of the floodlights particularly during darker winter months.

"As can be seen from pictures on the application portal submitted by a nearby resident, the current light pollution over the river to Bridge End is already pretty intense and intrusive and will be even more so with the additional floodlighting proposed in this application."

A further 25 residents objected to the scheme on the grounds of noise, impact on the conservation area and the lighting.

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Council planners had recommended the application be approved, siding with the ten locals who wrote in support of the courts.

Since the application was first submitted, plans were updated to include a barrier to reduce the noise.

This was questioned by Cllr Kyn Aizlewood, who said: "I think I am broadly supportive of the proposal but I do not see the point of the acoustic panel.

"It says in the report it will reduce the noise by 2db, well 2db is scarcely audible to the human ear, I doubt any of us in this room would know the difference between a sound level and one that is 2db different."

Councillors unanimously voted in favour of the application.