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Councillors have approved a new seven-a-side football pitch agreed to avoid the controversial relocation of a village football club to make way for a giant water pipeline.

The scheme for Huncoat United is a result of a £1.75 billion project to upgrade the 70-year-old Haweswater Aqueduct which supplies water from the Lake District to Lancashire and Greater Manchester.

This involves major work on land off Bolton Avenue, Huncoat, which affected the football club and led to controversial plans to move it from its current base for several years.

North West water supplier United Utilities and Hyndburn Council originally proposed to move Huncoat United Junior FC to two newly-created pitches at Great Harwood’s Memorial Playing Fields.

But after negotiations, a deal was agreed in August which means the water supplier will build the new pitch on Bolton Avenue Playing Fields in areas where their engineering work for the Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme (HARP) will not cause disturbance.

The planning application was granted planning permission with by the council's planning committee on Wednesday.

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