A private school's chairman of governors and his headmistress have launched blistering attacks condemning a parish council.

Winchester planners are due to decide on Thursday whether to allow Prince's Mead School to build a £500,000 sports hall. But Itchen Valley Parish Council has hit the co-ed school's hopes by lodging an objection.

Oliver Stanley and Donna Moore, who run Prince's Mead, have responded by branding the council a "bunch of NIMBYs".

Old Harrovian, Mr Stanley, said the "unacceptable" opposition was denting his ambitions of turning it into an "excellent school".

It switched to Worthy Park House, in Abbott's Barton, on the edge of Winchester, from its city centre base a year ago.

But because of a lack of sports facilities there, the 290 pupils are still shuttled into Winchester to use the city council-owned facilities at River Park Leisure Centre.

Governors want to put a stop to that and have applied for permission to build the three-court hall on the new site.

The parish council has objected to the visual impact the hall might have both on the area and on the setting of the Grade II*-listed Worthy Park House.

Council chairman, Alison Matthews, also alleged that the school had broken a promise: "When it moved, it stated quite clearly that it would not be doing any building. So we had no problem. But here they are, within a year, slapping in an application."

She suggested that the school be asked to produce a "masterplan" detailing exactly what building they may undertake in the future.

"It's difficult to believe them now that they won't want something else next year, or the year after."

Mr Stanley answered: "To move a school and completely assess your pretensions before you are there is very difficult."

He also claimed the hall would be screened by trees and that traffic would be reduced.

A team of inspectors from the Independent Association of Prep Schools examined the school in June.

They praised the "bold and imaginative" leadership and the "very good" teaching but said it was held back by the "unsatisfactory" sports provision.

"We have succeeded despite never having excellent facilities and that's why I believe we can turn what is a first-class school into an excellent school of which everyone can be proud, including the parish council.

"But we are being stopped by this bunch of NIMBYs and it's unacceptable. It's not a nuclear processing plant."

Mr Stanley said that despite attempts to reach some middle ground, the parish has refused to compromise.

"This is of such benefit to so many people--I'm for the greatest good for the greatest number and if I oppose a few over-60s I don't give a damn," he added.

Mr Stanley assured those who fear the new facility is merely a precursor to increased pupil numbers: "As long as I'm chairman of governors I would never sanction going over 300."

Ms Moore, who has been headmistress for 13 years, said: "We'd like to get on with our neighbours. But this is important for the children and it will be a tragedy if it doesn't go ahead.

"We feel we are being slapped down all the time. It's so disappointing and I can't understand it when we go to such lengths to fit in with the community."

If the school gets the nod from planners, Mr Stanley said the new sports hall could be open "some time in 2002." It would be funded by a school appeal