ENGLAND’S first dedicated curling rink has been refused retrospective planning permission.

The rink opened in a former agricultural warehouse at Dundale Farm, near Kippings Cross, Lamberhurst, in November last year.

Owner Ernest Fenton, who had at first thought it was not necessary to obtain planning permission for the venture because the curling season only lasted from October to April, had his plans rejected by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council by a margin of just one vote.

Mr Fenton was undismayed by the rejection. He said: "I expected this would happen. I shall appeal of course; it’s just the process you have to go through."

Mr Fenton said business so far was going very well.

He said: "We have about 70 or 80 people coming every week for the first time and we also have about 80 club members who play regularly. All that’s really by word of mouth as we haven’t done any advertising."

The scheme was opposed by Lamberhurst Parish Council, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England and planning officers. But it was supported by Sport England.

The scheme was rejected on traffic grounds because of its remote location away from public transport, and because the required extensions to the building would be harmful to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. But it was a close call, with the decision resting on the casting vote of committee chairman Cllr Barry Noakes (Con).

Mr Fenton said: "I have six months to appeal, and inquiries commonly take a year to be scheduled, so we have 18 months at least. By that time I will be able to prove what traffic there is to the site."

The game, long popular in Scotland, has become increasingly played south of the border since Great Britain landed a gold medal in the sport in the Winter Olympics of 2002.

In the game, players skim 42lb granite stones across an ice-rink towards a bulls-eye target. A distinctive feature of the game is the use of brushes, vigorously applied ahead of the stone’s path to smooth the ice and help it on its way.