THE public has been given longer to have a say on the sale of playing fields after consultation documents contained the wrong address.

Reilly Developments Ltd wants to build 250 homes on land in Great Harwood, a move that would need Hyndburn Council to sell off the land.

The pitches are currently used by Great Harwood Rovers Football Club, which was given a 25-year lease to use the Lyndon playing fields in 2007. The land is also used for overspill parking at the Great Harwood Agricultural Show.

But a new protest group, the Lyndon Playing Fields Association, says that posters near the site and logged with the authority list an address that does not even exist.

Campaigner Ian Wilkinson said: “The application and supporting documents are a disgrace.

“They contain many errors including a reference to a non-existent highway, namely Harwood Old Road.

“The majority of the formal documents also refer to Harwood Old Road on the front cover and throughout yet this road does not appear anywhere in Great Harwood or on the internet maps – people are getting very confused with Blackburn Old Road.

“Although the original closing date for objections was last Thursday, the council have now been forced to extend the deadline until mid-August due to this fundamental error.”

Pauline Embley, of the association, said the field had been used for recreation for more than 40 years, adding that 419 letters of complaint and a 534-signature petition have been lodged at the town hall.

A report written by Ian Hoole, of Hyndburn Council, says the authority wants to get the “full-market value” for the plot. He added that officials will work to find a new base for the club to play elsewhere.

A spokesman for Hyndburn Council said: “Whilst we don’t consider there to have been any confusion about the location of the development site, to remove any question of uncertainty we extended the consultation period.”