A COUPLE have been left furious after a planning application to run a swimming club from their home fuelled a rumour about them winning the lottery.

Phil and Nicky Meek, who live in Avon Road, in West Moors, have been holding swimming lessons at their home for more than a year.

They have recently applied to East Dorset District Council for a change of use so they can continue to use their swimming pool as a business.

The application has attracted nearly 100 comments, with many neighbours and residents who live nearby claiming that the lessons cause parking chaos on the road.

But one commenter, whose parents live on Avon Road, took the complaints a step further by posting a comment on the public planning portal claiming the couple are “lottery winners” and therefore should be able to pay for business rates.

Mr Meek completely denies any claim he is a lottery winner and says it is a rumour that was started 17 years ago when his family first moved to the area.

According to Mr Meek the rumour was based on a story that the family were “lottery winners from a council estate”.

“None of it was true but that didn’t matter, from the day we moved in we were the ‘lottery winners’,” he added.

“After a few years I think people realised it wasn’t true but now the rumour is being used again to try and hurt our family.”

Once Mr Meek spotted the comment online, he contacted the planning authority asking for it to be removed from public view and claiming it would “cause his family problems”.

A spokesman from East Dorset District Council confirmed the comment had been taken down from the public site.

More than a dozen neighbours have commented that parents dropping off or picking up their children “block driveways”, “park on pavements” and cause obstruction, which in some cases have “prevented emergency service vehicles accessing the road”.

Mr Meek has said he and his wife have asked parents to park respectfully of the neighbours and also said that most of the parents park on their driveway as it is “big enough for six or seven cars”.

But he also told the Echo that the couple would continue to provide swimming lessons free of charge if their change-of-use application was denied.