OWNERS of a woodland education centre near Marlborough are being forced to demolish it this week after Wiltshire Council refused to give it planning permission.

Martin Gibson, who owns The Grove Woodland Centre, and team member Mark Norcliffe are heartbroken that the centre which helps youngsters learn through play has had to close after objections about traffic using the narrow country lanes.

Mr Norcliffe, 43, who also sleeps on site as the night watchman, helped build the centre. He said: "I have been told the school must be shut down, taken apart and fully dismantled. I am going to be taking down some of it but it is truly heart-breaking.”

“We used to have a lot of children who came here from the surrounding area. They were absolutely wonderful, they really enjoyed it here. We had large groups of children come weekly to take part in a range of different activities. We had tree houses, assault courses, play areas and a stage and even birds."

The centre, at Thicketts Road, Mildenhall, ran courses offering children and adults the chance to experience forest living, including learning how to make fires using bow drills, build shelters and sleep out under the stars.

Up to 70 youngsters a week were enjoying the courses, and a Friday-night adults session was popular with local people.

But the centre has had to close after Wiltshire Council ruled the amount of traffic it was causing was a danger to other road users.

Mr Gibson said he hoped to re-open the centre in the future if he can resolve the traffic issues with the council.

“I have a farm and it has some lovely woodlands in it and I have always wanted to find a way of getting kids to play in the woods.

“We came up with an idea of hosting birthday parties and school trips and and it was working out really well. We then applied for planning permission and we got turned down because the traffic impact was severe. All my neighbours objected because they thought there would be too much traffic. I had to do a traffic plan and I worked out there would be about 130 vehicles using the single track road every week but if the road is unsuitable then surely something needs to be done?

“It is a real shame, I am sad and I think the place was wonderful as people put a lot of work into it.

“We hope that we can reawaken the centre in the future but we need to make some changes to the road and I am hoping to work with highways on this.”

A spokesman for Mildenhall Parish Council said this week: "The Parish Council will be pleased to hear the Woodland Centre will close because the site is unsuitable on account of serious access difficulties."

When the application was considered by councillors, the parish council said it supported the principle and aims of the centre but were: "Unanimously opposed to any additional vehicular traffic on the access roads from Mildenhall and Stitchcombe, which are already causing anxiety to local residents and users of the newly-refurbished playpark. Their experience has convinced them that additional traffic on these lanes is dangerous and against the spirit of the woodland adventure."