PLANS to build houses on an artificial football pitch in Whitecross have been withdrawn by the developer.

An application for planning permission for five three-storey townhouses on the AstroTurf facility off Green Street, at the rear of the former Bank Quay Sports and Social Club, has been pulled.

The three-bedroom properties plan would have also involved the partial demolition of an existing building fronting onto Green Street, with the social club having been converted into a clothes shop, massage parlour and e-cigarette retailer.

But applicant Riverside Developments, which said in its submission that the use of the 3G pitch was ‘unsustainable’, withdrew the plans amid objections from Warrington Borough Council’s highways department and Sport England.

While the latter had objected due to the loss of the AstroTurf facility, the council’s highways department had expressed concerns over the ‘inadequate provision for safe access to the site’.