PARENTS and residents are fighting to stop half a school playing field being turned into a "sea of concrete".

York Road Junior School and Language Unit applied last month to turn part of the sports field into a 33-space car park.

The school, in York Road, Dartford, currently has 12 parking spaces for its 80 staff.

But it hopes to get planning permission from Kent County Council (KCC) to more than double the amount.

If given the go-ahead, the cost of the car park will be shared between the school and the local education authority.

Residents of Sussex Road, which borders the playing field, received a planning application letter on July 27.

They have since been campaigning to stop the proposals.

They have managed to collect more than 80 signatures on a petition which has been given to Dartford MP Howard Stoate.

He thinks the plan is "terrible" and is supporting the campaign to stop it from going ahead.

He hopes to present the petition to the KCC planning committee this month.

He said: "I am very pleased they have got together to do this petition. It will show KCC just how much people don't want it.

"I think it's awful they are even thinking of proposing it.

"With the levels of obesity in the country, you would think they would encourage exercise by keeping the field."

Sussex Road resident Sharon Pollins says she has been overwhelmed by the support of residents.

She said: "So many people are against this car park.

"The children won't be able to play any games on the field and secondly residents don't want to look out onto a car park every morning."

Angela Walton, whose nine-year-old son attends the school, feels the school has been "sneaky" by not telling parents of the plans.

She said: "More parents would have been against the car park if it was during term time. But that's what the school wanted."

A spokesman for KCC's educational department said: "We are in the consultation period at the moment, and any concerns will be referred to the planning application committee."