A DILAPIDATED 80-year-old church hall will be demolished and rebuilt into a modern community hall and sports centre as part of a church complex.

West Leigh Baptist Church has been granted permission to demolish the hall and replace it with a hall, sports hall and redesigned courtyard.

Neighbours claim it is supposed to be a church not a sports centre but Southend Council approved plans for the complex off Lymington Avenue, Leigh despite 20 objections.

The new hall will be larger and also include the sports hall, meeting rooms and a kitchen.

Representatives from the church believe the congregation will grow substantially as a result.

Neighbours claim with only ten parking spaces there will be conflict between residents and churchgoers over street parking and the size of the building will result in it overlooking neighbouring homes.

Complaints were also submitted about the sports hall, with some saying the site is “meant to be a place of worship, not a sports facility”.

One resident who lives next to the church on London Road said: “The proposed full development is huge, there is no other word to articulate this and it is completely our of character within the local residential area the church sits on.

“It also becomes overlooking. the footprint of the building will really impact on our community.

But a spokesman for the church defended the plans telling the committee they are a “vibrant all-age community intent on making a difference holistically in Leigh”.

He continued: “For  the last three years we have only been able to use half of our site as the 80 year old hall is no longer fit for use.”

He acknowledged that parking was a strain in the area but said the church would encourage visitors to use other means of transport and they would not allow number to “swell to unimaginable levels”.

Lib Dem councillor Ashley Thompson said: “It’s quite rare to find a church looking to expand its offer, local churches are mainly in decline and struggling to keep social, spiritual and cultural offer going. Also we live in a culture where the local authority has to make significant cuts and some of the programmes these churches are doing are filling the gaps so it is quite refreshing for something to be brought before the committee to improve the social, spiritual and cultural offer.”