A planning application has been submitted to Sheffield Council to bulldoze the famous Shiregreen WMC - the setting for The Full Monty finale - and build flats and houses in its place.

Committee members are "outraged" by the application which they say contradicts their 25-year lease - signed just three-and-a-half years ago - for the Shiregreen Lane club.

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The committee only found out about the proposals after spotting a planning notice pinned to a nearby lamppost.

"Chatsworth Inns, who own the site, have not even written to us," said club secretary David Howden. "We signed a 25-year lease for the club in November 2004 so I don't know what they think they are doing."

He took over as committee secretary in 2004 after the WMC had problems with a debt to the-then brewery. He believes the brewery sold the site to Chatsworth Inns as a result, but the club committee then signed a 25-year lease to continue trading.

"Chatsworth Inns may have their name on the deeds but we have ours on the lease and they signed it," said David. "It is outrageous. We are going to submit every objection we can."

Shiregreen WMC found fame through the 1997 Sheffield-based smash hit film The Full Monty, in which six unemployed men put on a strip show to raise cash. The final scene was performed and filmed at the Shiregreen club - and fans have travelled halfway around the world just to see the location.

"The club has had visitors from as far afield as Japan and Australia," said Trevor Whittington, a club member and former vice president of the committee. "It is a real piece of Sheffield's history."

Coun Peter Price, who represents the Shiregreen and Brightside ward, held surgeries at the club for more than 20 years and was made a lifetime member. He said he was "devastated" by the proposals and urged locals to get a petition together.

"I am just as devastated as the committee," he said. "The Brightside Area Panel has discussed this and unanimously agreed to oppose the planning application on behalf of the community.

"The club forms a vital part of the social fabric of the community and, while it has had its ups and downs, it has always come through.

"The area is one of deprivation, and clubs of this nature offer a great place for relaxation and support. To lose the Shiregreen WMC would be a disaster, especially as it is one of the few places in Brightside that is internationally famous.

"I urge the people of Brightside to write in to the planning department opposing this application and get a petition together if possible."

Plans to build 11 houses and 13 apartments, with parking, were first submitted to Sheffield Council in December but they have only just been validated. Site notices have now been put up in the area telling residents they have 21 days to respond. The application will be discussed by a Sheffield Council planning board.

A Chatsworth Inns spokesman said the committee was worrying unnecessarily and claimed: "We have no intention of closing the club down - we are actually trying to protect its future."

He said securing planning permission for the site was merely "adding more value to it in the event the club should fail for any reason".

"This would increase the site's value for a developer - we are not developers," he said.

"The WMC has signed a lease which is legally binding," he added. "Licensed premises nationwide are suffering and closing down. We are trying to protect this site by securing it financially should this happen to the WMC.

"Although planning applications are only valid for five years, if a site has been approved for housing development once it is much more likely - although not automatic - that it will be approved again in the future."

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