WORK on the £120,000 expansion of one of Malmesbury’s oldest sporting institutions has come to a sudden halt following a heated dispute over the builders’ access to the site.

Malmesbury Tennis Club has spent several years amassing funds from a variety of sources to build a floodlit extension that includes two tennis courts, a mini court and practice facilities.

But construction work at the town centre complex off Tetbury Hill has stopped after angry resident Carl Sadler hammered metal posts into a lane preventing heavy lorries from using it.

Garden furniture specialist Mr Sadler says the lorries delivering aggregate to the site were far too big and that he took action after one of them scraped his back wall while reversing down the lane.

He feared that further damage to his property would be done unless the trucks were physically prevented from using the narrow lane that is the only access to the club and runs along the rear of Tetbury Hill houses.

Now there is what club chairman Miles Edmeston (correct) described as a “Mexican stand-off” between the club and Mr Sadler, whose house is at the entrance of the lane which the lorries need to use.

Mr Edmeston said the 200 member club, which celebrated its centenary in 2011 and has been on its present site since the 1930s, was in desperate need of the expansion to help cater for school children who use its facilities.

He admitted that the lane was very narrow but felt lorries could negotiate it without causing damage or disruption.

He said construction was expected to take 12 weeks but would take much longer, and cost the club a lot more money, if they had to use smaller lorries to deliver building materials.

Mr Edmeston said the situation became quite heated when Mr Sadler installed the metal posts which prevented the lorries from entering the lane.

He said: “We feel Mr Sadler’s objections are unsubstantiated. We are trying to come to an amicable solution.”

Mr Sadler said the lane was far too narrow for such large lorries to negotiate, especially as they could only reverse down it.

“These are eight wheeled trucks carrying 25 tonnes of hard-core.

“One of them hit my wall. It was only scraped but the next time it could cause a lot more damage.

“There is a lot of concern among residents here about potential damage.”

He said the solution was simple – that the builders needed to use smaller vehicles for the job.

Another resident, builder Simon Pike backed Mr Sadler, saying: “These lorries are much too big for this lane.”

He felt the tennis club had got its plans wrong by insisting that trucks of such size should deliver materials to the site.

Another resident, dentist Bruce Moredon ,said: “The lorries they are using are far too big for the lane – especially as they have to reverse. Even delivery vans have problems getting down there.”