'Sweary' footballers shatter tranquility in 'Archers village'

Residents kick off over soccer club stands

- Adam Dutton

A REAL-life drama is brewing in the idyllic village that inspired The Archers, with a row over rowdy footballers ruining the peace and quiet.

Locals are fed up with noisy players and fans and say their gardens have "lost their tranquillity" as they object to plans for Inkberrow FC to expand.

They say the peace of the village which influenced the fictional Midlands setting of Ambridge for Radio Four's The Archers - has been shattered by shouting and cheering.

The club runs around 30 teams from the under-7s to an over-50s side with many training and playing on Saturday and Sunday mornings at its Sands Pavilion ground in Inkberrow, Worcestershire.

Nightmare

To accommodate the hundreds of players and fans, the club applied to Wychavon District Council for planning permission to build two new stands in the village, where house prices average £500,000.

But the application attracted objections with locals arguing Inkberrow is being "swamped" by the expansion.