CONTROVERSIAL plans to turn a derelict squash club in Poole into a convenience store have been given the go-ahead.

More than 330 people signed a petition against the application by brewery Hall & Woodhouse for the former Dorset Squash Club at 25 Ringwood Road, Parkstone, next to the Sweet Home Inn.

But the Borough of Poole planning committee voted the application through because they could find no planning reasons not to do so.

As many as 25 full and part jobs are to be created once a £700,000 refit takes place, which will include an office unit.

But the move has disappointed the South Dorset Squash Club Campaign Group which was set up by local racquet sports enthusiasts to combat the planning bid. They had called for the courts to be restored, arguing they would be a “huge loss to the area as there is very limited space to play sport in the Borough as it is.”

But Anthony Woodhouse, Hall and Woodhouse MD, said: “The proposed development for a small convenience store reflects genuine interest from a national retailer. It offers a local shopping facility.”

He added that the courts, empty since April 2007, had also become increasingly vandalised and derelict. Hall and Woodhouse hired consultants to find a commercial tenant during that time, but to no avail, the committee was told.

The planning application was approved, subject to an agreement on developer’s contributions to local recreation facilities.

Fellow Parkstone Cllr Sally Carpenter said later: “It would have been great if we could have got the squash courts there because these guys would have been planning so many different things.”