A TEENAGER has launched a campaign to stop a local field being turned into a football pitch.

Eleanor Gilbert, 17, has lobbied Adderbury parish councillors in a bid to stop a hard surface pitch being built at Lucy Plackett Field, in the village. She also wrote a letter which was published in the Banbury Cake.

She believes building a pitch at the site will be a mistake and will alienate other users who don’t play football.

The student says at the moment the area is used by everyone in the community for dog walking, as a play area, for picnics and just to meet up with friends.

But she reckons if the proposal goes ahead it may end up just being used by one group of teenagers.

Eleanor, of Banbury, said: “If the field had a big football pitch in the middle, it will not be anywhere near as scenic.

“It will be unsuitable for very young children to ride bikes and play games.

“I certainly will not be going with my friends, as it will be inhabited already by just one group of teenagers, as these things normally do.

“I know that half of the field won’t have a hard surface, but this means that 50 per cent will be for the use of everybody that lives in Adderbury, from the ages one to 100, for them to play a variety of ball games and family games, to have picnics, to sunbathe, to walk their dogs, learn to ride a bike, fly kites and relax.

“And then the next 50 per cent of the field will only be in use for one group of people, maybe six or seven teenage boys and girls.

“This isn’t an over-reaction, this is harsh reality which is unfair to everybody, including other teens.

“Living in Banbury I have seen lovely fields turned into similar football areas, and it has had consequences.

“It will be damaging to the village as a whole, and only helpful to a small handful of people.”

Parish councillor Ivor Burgess said he had reservations, but the council was obliged to look after the community.

The pitch had already been moved from the Rise, where is caused problems for householders as people were playing football in the early hours of the morning.

He said: “We have made this as small as is reasonably possible and it is not, in my view, an offensive item.”

He said the pitch would be pushed into the bank near the old railway, which he hoped would reduce the impact on Lucy Plackett Field.

The council was in the process of getting quotes for the work.