A CONTROVERSIAL plan to build steel and PVC polyester sports hall in the shadow of an ancient church and listed house, is set to be rejected by planners.

Governors at Brompton Hall School, near Scarborough - the former home of the pioneer of aviation Sir George Cayley - want to build the hall in response to a critical Ofsted report.

But the sports complex would be in the grounds of the Grade II- listed hall where Cayley built the first aircraft more than a century ago.

Mike Moore, North Yorkshire County Council's environmental services director, says in a report to the authority's planning committee: "While a sports hall is acceptable in principle on the site, the proposed design is unacceptable."

A total of 128 residents of Brompton-by-Sawdon have written letters of objection to the scheme saying it will have a major impact on the character and appearance of the village's conservation area, and on the surrounding landscape.

They have also criticised what they described as the "poor quality" of the design and the effect on neighbouring houses and the parish church of All Saints - where poet William Wordsworth was married - as well as Brompton Hall.

Opposition has also come from Scarborough Borough Council, Brompton-by-Sawdon Parish Council and English Heritage Sport England said it has no objection.

County councillors are being recommended to reject the scheme on the grounds of its impact on the church, Brompton Hall, and on conservation and landscape grounds.