Football jersey wearing youngsters filled the front rows of the public gallery as the contentious Elmbridge Sports Hub was approved by councillors.

Surrey Comet:

Petition: Signed by more than 2,000 people

It has been in the wings for a long time, receiving mixed responses from both councillors and neighbours, but loud applause came from the gallery as a majority vote was passed in its favour.

Before the meeting a petition was handed to the council with almost 2,500 signatures opposing the construction of the hub.

The main gripes people have had with the application are the change in a historic view, light pollution, costs and contamination problems the site has encountered.

Council leader Councillor John O'Reilly said: "The cost of dealing with the contamination is something like £10m. There is an awful lot of money invested in this area to make it safe.

"I hope it will provide considerable reassurance to the residents."

Speaking on behalf of the objectors Kristina Kenworthy said: "Local people with local knowledge should have been consulted about the wisdom of disturbing a war time dump site containing heavy metals, asbestos, tsbs and god knows what else."

Councillor Rachael Lake expressed worries about the floodlights. She said light could shine for miles due to the elevation away from the river and the 18-metre lighting posts.

The planning officer showed the meeting a slide demonstrating the expected reach of light from the hub, and said the light would affect very little surrounding the development.

Councillor Chris Cross, in whose ward the development would be, said she supported the project from day one, and denied Councillor Chris Sadler's claims it would be in the wrong place.

Coun Sadler proposed to go against officers' recommendations to permit. Three councillors voted for this, seven against. Councillors then voted for the recommendation with seven for, two against and one councillor abstained.