Planners at Buckinghamshire Council have stopped a Marlow warehouse becoming a Brazilian jiu-jitsu club.

They refused permission for Unit 6 of the Globe Business Park at First Avenue to be used as a martial arts centre due to concerns about flooding.

Officers said the site was in a flood zone and that the applicant Genesis Gym had not provided a ‘site-specific flood-risk assessment’.

Planners require the risk assessment to demonstrate the escape routes that would be used in a flood, as well as show that a building could be used again ‘without significant refurbishment’.

Genesis’ plans read: “The proposal seeks to convert Unit 6 within the Globe Business Park following change of use from being a storage warehouse in its current state to a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fitness coaching club.

“Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting, and submission holds. It is practiced on large open mats.”

Genesis acquired Unit 6 on a 10-year lease to help increase club membership and planned to use the warehouse as its new headquarters.

The club currently operates from a unit across the road, where it also offers kickboxing, but it has ‘outgrown the space’.

Genesis did not plan external changes to Unit 6 but proposed new internal stairs and an extended mezzanine floor.

Plans read: “A new mezzanine with a total area of 199.5m2 including the original space is proposed on the first floor to provide more space to undertake the proposed use of the site.”