A massive bid to improve sports facilities has come under fire from residents living near land earmarked for floodlit all-weather pitches.

People living near Prince Henry's Grammar School in Otley are fighting the key feature of the lottery application - an all-weather multi-use games area - which they say will have an enormous impact on their homes.

The £1.6m plan has been drawn up to redress the chronic lack of sports venues in the town. Leeds City Council has employed Manchester firm Strategic Leisure Ltd to put the bid together.

It includes the refurbishment of the school's Chippendale swimming pool, the sports hall, a smaller hall and the resurfacing of the tennis and netball courts. Changing rooms, a fitness suite and a social area are additional features.

But it is the inclusion of the games area which has sparked opposition from people in Oatlands Drive, Newall Hall and Newall Hall Park.

More than 100 signatures have been collected by residents opposed to the pitches, which will be open from 9am to 10pm seven days a week.

Neil Best, of Newall Hall Park, said: "We do appreciate the need to upgrade the facilities but there is fairly strong feeling against this all-weather pitch.

"Certain houses are just 15 feet away from the edge of the pitch and just the noise, let alone the floodlighting, will be a serious nuisance. It's really unacceptable within a residential area."

But town and city councillor John Eveleigh, who has developed the application with Leeds and Sports Council representatives, said the games area was most important detail.

"It's essential for the whole scheme that the multi-use games area is part and parcel of the package - and in the lottery's eyes, it probably falls apart without it," he said.

"It is a facility that the public has been clamouring for for a long time. If it comes to pass it will be excellent and we are keeping our fingers crossed that the lottery looks favourably on it."

Coun Eveleigh said the concerns of residents had been taken on board by Strategic Leisure Ltd at a meeting last week.

Architects for the firm were going back to the drawing board to see if amendments could make the plan more acceptable, he said.

"If they can be accommodated, they certainly will be. We are very enthusiastic about it and there are now some very ambitious designs for the money available."

The lottery bid will be made around November and, if successful, work could begin early in 1999 after a planning application is submitted to Leeds City Council.

Coun Eveleigh said: "The normal planning procedure will give people another chance to view the bid and register their comments."

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