A COUPLE who live within a 'six' of a cricket ground say they are 'in shreds' over the noise coming from players training in the nets.

Darlington Cricket Club had submitted a retrospective planning application for the all-weather practice area, including two tracks within cages and nets.

The club, which has been playing at the ground since 1866, faced objections from people who live in properties on Greener Drive, which is part of the new housing development being built on the former Feethams football ground.

Retired electrical engineer David Elliott, 60, and wife Christine bought their £280,000 townhouse because of the idyllic view across the Darlington Cricket Club ground, one which Mr Elliott played on a number of times as a handy number four batsman for Redcar Works.

The Elliotts and their neighbours have no problem with the distant clunk of a well-timed off drive, but the positioning of the nets caused instant outrage.

Mr Elliott spent £10,000 on the landscaping of his 12ft outdoor terrace - just in time for the nets to be put up.

They are now less than a metre - within touching distance - from his back fence.

Mr Elliott said: "The cricket ground, like all cricket grounds has four sides and only one of them has a set of new houses directly along its boundary - and that's where they decided to put the nets.

"One side of the ground borders the River Skerne, why not put them there?

"It has ruined our lives, we have no peace and quite, no enjoyment of our outside area, I can't bring my grandchildren to enjoy the garden, my wife and I are in shreds over this.

"We spent quite a lot of money on a lovely house with a beautiful view across a cricket ground. I have no problem with cricket, I used to play and I've played on this ground. We're members of the club!

"But this constant day-long barrage that starts at 8.30am and sometimes goes on till 9pm is completely unbearable.

"They've put in power for a bowling machine that fires balls at 95mph every seven seconds. I can hardly imagine this being made worse - but that will do the trick.

"Our only hope is that the council have agreed a site meeting and when the councillors see what the cricket club have done they will understood our point of view.

"The nets have become effectively an extension of our back garden and we weren't consulted once.

"One day diggers turned up, dug out the area behind our homes, hardcore went in and with a day or two fully functioning nets were there that haven't stopped since. It's bedlam."

Tom Dennis, 24, who works in sales in the sporting industry, lives next door with his partner, Becky. He added: "The sound of bat on ball is intrusive and shocking, it makes you jump.

"They are so close that they're looking through our windows when we get up in the morning. We're not ones for wandering around in the nude or anything, but the sudden lack of privacy is shocking.

"If the council find against us we're stuck here because we can't afford to move again, but it's a blight on what was a lovely place to live.

"It can't be right that the club is able to build a sporting facility within touching distance of our back gardens without even consulting us or the council. The nets can be moved anywhere around the ground, it's the very last place where they should have been put."

At a planning meeting on Wednesday, Brian Johnson, the chairman of Darlington Cricket Club, told members that the site had been used for 25-30 years.

"This development largely covers the part of the original all weather pitch," he said. " The whole purpose of the net facility is largely to encourage youngsters, aged six to teens, to develop their cricketing skills."

Members voted to defer any decision to enable them to carry out a site visit at the ground so that they can hear for themselves the noise coming from the practice nets. The date is yet to be fixed.