Members of Penn and Tylers Green Football Club have slammed the council for requesting feedback on its open spaces strategy just months after it rejected plans to build new floodlights on a sports ground.

However Chiltern District Council (CDC) has hit back saying the plans for open spaces, play parks and allotments are “not related” to the football grounds in Elm Road, Penn.

Chairman of the club, Tony Hurst, said it was “ironic” CDC is attempting to improve open spaces in the district, after the council issued a post on Twitter requesting feedback on the consultation, yet failed to support the club’s football ground in its time of need.

He said: “(CDC) are trying to improve open spaces yet you told the football clubs on Penn and Tylers Green they can’t have their flood lights on.

“We also pointed out that the ground we are going to share with at Amersham Town, they have got flood lights in the same district so at some stage they would have been given permission by that very council.

“That’s how we feel about it. It just seems rather bad timing and in bad taste.”

The football club applied to install six retractable lights, extending from 2.8 metres to 15 metres, at the pitch in Elm Road following strict instructions from the Football Association (FA).

However the club now fears its senior teams may be relegated after the council’s planning committee refused the plans in February on the grounds the lights would cause "tremendous harm" to the AONB.

Spokesman for CDC, Connie Primer, said the council is working on its open spaces strategy to ensure “future needs are met” however added it is “not related” to the club’s ground.

She said: “Public consultations offer residents the opportunity to give feedback on plans, and promoting consultations on social media is one way of letting people know they are happening.

"The planning application for floodlights at the football club is a separate matter, not related to the open spaces strategy.

“The planning application was refused in February this year. The reasons included the location of the site being within the Chiltern Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the proposal failing to conserve or enhance the natural beauty of the area, the detrimental impact on the nearby heritage assets and the local policy of disallowing street lighting in the village centre”.

The club is currently awaiting approval from the FA to ground share with Amersham FC and plans on appealing against the council’s decision.