A tennis club is set to benefit from three new floodlights, despite concerns that this could impact on neighbouring houses.

Harrow Council gave West End Lawn Tennis Club, in Cuckoo Hill Road, Pinner, permission to introduce the lights alongside one of its’ six courts.

The planning committee narrowly voted in favour of the proposals, with the majority Labour representatives outweighing their Conservative counterparts by four to three.

Cllr Stephen Greek, who was vocally opposed to the plans, suggested a site visit to witness the impact of the floodlights currently installed.

When this was shot down, he said it was important to stand up for those living close to the club.

“The residents there are suffering in terms of their quality of life,” he said.

“Some of them have said it’s like living in daylight all the time. We’re not protecting our residents on something that is making a difference to their daily lives.

“If we are not even prepared to go down there to see the impact it is having then that is ridiculous.”

The club is “generally residential” and is bordered directly by two homes. It currently has floodlights up to six metres high, which affect five of its’ courts.

Labour councillors were swayed by the planning officers’ report, which noted that the council’s light engineer had deemed the floodlights appropriate.

They assured the committee that the “technical specifications” are permitted and explained that, when installing new lights, the older lamps would be checked.

Cllr Keith Ferry, chairman of the planning committee, said: “I think we’ve been here before when we discussed lighting at the Hive, [in Edgware] – there are technical specifications around lighting at sports’ grounds.

“If you have a professional and he or she feels as if it meets the criteria, then we don’t really have a leg to stand on by going against it.”