Spare a thought this morning for the volunteers and young players at Chorleywood Youth Football Club.

It seems their hopes to expand and improve its facilities are likely to be scuppered by a small collection of rare flowers.

Officers at Three Rivers District Council have recommended that a planning application by the Chorleywood Youth Football Club to build three new pitches be rejected because they pose a threat to "biodiversity."

The popular club, based in the council owned Chorleywood House Estate, currently has more than 400 members and runs 22 teams.

It says if the new pitches are not built it will have to shed some of its current flock of junior members in the next few years.

Planners, however, claim proposals to expand the facility by two acres will harm protected species, damage trees, create too much noise and spoil the aesthetic of the registered nature reserve.

Councillors have been advised to refuse it on this basis.

But the club, who withdrew the application shortly before the meeting to review their position, claim the council's stance is not only unreasonable but based on a flawed scientific assessment of the area.

Club Chairman Clifton Melvin said: "Our problem is that we have simply run out of space.

"We're doing everything we can to meet a great level of demand but if we can't expand we'll have to start turning younger members away when they reach the age of 11.

"At this age they move up to 11-a-side but this needs more space that we don't have. We're in the unfortunate position that our landlords are also the planning authority.

"But would they the council rather have these kids playing organised football in a safe club or hanging about the streets of Chorleywood?"

Mr Melvin, who has been involved in the club for more than 12 years, also expressed disappointment that the council failed to express many of its concerns to the club when it was compiling its report.

Doubts have also been expressed about the validity of the scientific research which underpins much of the report.

Respected conservationist and botanist Janet Anders, who represents the Chorleywood House Estate Partnership, is supporting the club.

She explained that one of the "threatened" plants (coralroot bittercress) contained in the council's report doesn't actually exist on the proposed site because it can't grow there. She said: "I fully support the football club.

"I suppose I'm a bit like a leopard that's changed its spots on this one but I think when it comes to green concerns the pendulum really has swung too far.

"I think there's a tendency when it comes to planning matters for the council to promote everything that is green and to reject everything that is not.

"Football is so important to the children that in this case I believe it is more important than a bit of grassland."

Three Rivers District Council, however, says it is sticking to its position.

Councillor Geoffrey Dunne, chair of the development control committee, stressed that environmental concerns need to be considered.

He said: "The importance of football for young people must be balanced against the vital need to protect the district's six local nature reserves - protecting the environment is for the benefit of the next generation."