A MALVERN sports club got a boost this week when it won permission to extend its clubhouse.

Malvern Rugby Football Club, on Spring Lane, can now go ahead with plans for the single-storey extension.

This will house a new sponsors' suite, store, toilets and extension to the existing kitchen.

The planning application came before Malvern Hills District Council's southern area development control committee on Wednesday.

Several residents from nearby Charles Way had written to the council to highlight worries about noise and parking.

Their fears were echoed by local councillor Pat Mewton, who said parking in Spring Lane was sometimes "chaotic" on match days.

However, a club spokesman told the meeting the extension would not mean an increase in the number of visiting cars.

He said the club was also talking to companies in Spring Lane about using their parking spaces.

The extension will enable the existing sponsors' suite to be used as a changing area for young people.

n Planning permission to build a house in Layton Avenue, Malvern, has been refused.

Applicant A Montandon wanted to build the house in the grounds of 28 Layton Avenue, a plan that was resisted by a number of local councillors. The committee was recommended by officers to approve the plan. However, members refused on the grounds it was overdevelopment of the site.

"It's just too big for the site," said ward councillor Val Myatt.