AN Eastleigh head teacher was heckled at a rowdy meeting where plans to sell off part of his school's field to pay for a £2m state-of-the-art sports facilities were put on ice.

Crestwood School head Phil Munday set out his case at an Eastleigh Borough Council planning meeting to sell the "dead" land to developers for 80 homes and unlock £2m to pay for a new sports hall and outdoor pitch.

But a few hecklers - in a packed public gallery of about 50 - shouted "rubbish" to almost all of his points but who also chose not to state their case to the present councillors and public.

An unexpected objection by Sport England at the 11th hour - the body whose approval must be sought to sell off playing fields in the UK - forced councillors to defer the application.

Sport England wants an assurance first that the sports hall and outdoor pitch will be granted planning permission before it agrees to the land sell-off. But that is to be dealt with by way of a separate planning application that has yet to be formulated.

This has left the school's major expansion plans for one of the only sports halls in the Eastleigh area in limbo.

Mr Munday told the committee: "The new sports facilities will bring significant benefits to the local community who will be able to take advantage of the out of school hours.

"No local schools in this area have such a sports hall. It is important that this plan goes ahead because it will enhance sports provision for the school and the community.

"This will only improve our sports facilities and I invite anyone who thinks otherwise to come and look at the site with me."

Councillor Chris Thomas said: "We do not have all the facts before us so we can't be expected to make a decision at this stage until Sport England is fully consulted."

Now Mr Munday and the local education authority will sit down and rethink their strategy that could mean having to lodge a successful planning application for the sports hall and artificial pitch first.