CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a driving test centre on a Hampshire recreation ground were last night unanimously rejected by councillors.

The proposal to site a specialist facility for cars and motorbikes on land at Cams Alders recreation ground in Fareham had prompted mass outrage in the town.

More than 600 residents signed a petition calling on Fareham Borough Council to turn down the planning application.

Yesterday members of the council's planning control committee did just that, saying they could not sanction the loss of valuable public open space in the town.

The decision means a half-million pound package of improvements to community sporting facilities at the recreation ground has been lost. It also means Fareham Town Football Club will have to look elsewhere for vital funding to secure its future.

The proposals would have seen the Driving Standards Agency construct a multi-purpose test centre at Cams Alders, which would have replaced an existing centre at Gosport.

Because it would also include a specialist motorbike manoeuvring area, it would have been used for applicants from an area stretching from Southampton to Chichester.

The football club's facilities would have been improved, with new changing rooms and floodlights, and the creation of two all-weather pitches, which would have been made available for community use.

The existing pitches at Cams Alders, which are currently unusable for much of the year, would have also been resurfaced and new drainage systems installed.

At a packed committee meeting, councillors heard from residents concerned about safety implications of more cars accessing the site along Palmerston Drive.

"The last thing this area needs is increased traffic flows," said Rob Brailey.

"There seems to have been little thought given to the noise impact on residents living nearby, as well as the serious implications on security. This place is used by responsible dog walkers and by children as a shortcut to school, and is the type of place we should be preserving for future generations."

Committee members rejected the proposals on the grounds that it was contrary to planning policies regarding open spaces.

Chairman, Cllr Nick Walker said: "There is a shortfall of public space in Fareham, and what we have found is that you cannot create open space. It doesn't work that way round, so to take some away is not very sensible."