A campaign to stop a developer building ‘unneighbourly’ padel tennis courts in Gerrards Cross has been backed by an actor known for roles in My Family and Sherwood.

Robert Lindsay, a BAFTA and Tony-award-winning actor best know for playing Ben Harper in the BBC series My Family, is among a group of locals opposing plans to replace “dilapidated” tennis courts at the Gerrards Cross Memorial Centre with a new state-of-the-art padel tennis facility.

Mr Lindsay attended a town council meeting on Monday night where residents including Sarah Williams, 52, put pressure on the local authority to object to the proposal – which they say would cause noise and light pollution for residents living “less than seven metres away” from the site.

A private developer applied for permission to build courts for the high-impact sport, which involves balls bouncing off metallic mesh walls and fibreglass rackets, in late September.

And Gerrards Cross Town Council was in step with the local position by formally criticising the plans as “unneighbourly” and carrying the risk of “sound and highways pollution” this week.

The 'dilapidated' tennis courts at the memorial centre (Image: Buckinghamshire Council)

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Robert Lindsay’s assistant said: “Robert is supporting his local community as, like most residents, doesn’t want his local community centre turned into a commercial sports complex.”

Sarah has also condemned the involvement of Gerrards Cross Community Association with the project – accusing the non-profit of “letting a developer build the loud and expensive courts” rather than using the space “for a community garden or hard standing”.

The case made for the new padel courts in application documents says a “modern and attractive sporting option” would help to boost footfall in the town centre and make good use of the old tennis courts which are “in a state of disrepair”.