RESIDENTS near Dyson Perrins High School say they are disappointed after planning permission was granted for a new extension.

The building work is part of a £2.3 million project to update the school.

The application approved Malvern Hills District Council was for the demolition of one building, construction of another and refurbishment of a third.

But residents of Springfield Glade, which is close to the site of the proposed new building, wrote to the council to voice their objections. They said the building was too big and too close to their homes and would damage the value of their property.

They particularly objected to ventilation towers or "windcatchers" which form part of the building's natural ventilation system.

Their fears were echoed by Malvern Town Council, which said the towers would form a "very unattractive overbearing feature".

But at Monday night's meeting of MHDC's southern area planning sub-committee, members endorsed the planning officers' recommendation that the building "would not harm the character and appearance of the neighbourhood" or "affect the residential amenity of adjacent occupiers".

Graham Lowen, of Springfield Glade, said: "We're very disappointed and angry at this outcome. We know the school has to be expanded and we have no objection to that.

"We would be absolutely over the moon if the new building had been where the old building was. All the pipework, the cabling, the drainage and so on is there."

Tim Hill, the school's assistant head, said that work was due to start in Easter next year and was scheduled for completion in September 2003.

He said: "It's one of the biggest school projects in the county, if not the biggest.

"Whilst we can fully appreciate the neighbours' worries, we have in fact set aside a sum of money for landscaping and for fences to help screen the building."