CONTROVERSIAL plans to build homes on an Eastleigh school's playing fields look set to win approval.

Hampshire County Council wants to sell off the land to developers and plough the cash into a multi-million-pound makeover for Nightingale Primary School, which serves the giant Aviary estate.

Eastleigh councillors will next week be recommended to give

outline planning approval for 32 homes on the site off Chestnut Avenue.

The move to build on the playing fields has already caused a storm of protest.

Parents fear the loss of land would mean their children losing valuable sports facilities.

The Aviary Residents Associated group has formally protested over the plans. They say local roads cannot take extra traffic and it will overload the sewer system.

But in a report to Tuesday's meeting of the council's Eastleigh Local Area Committee, planners will say that the site is close to local shops and other amenities. There are also good transport links.