ONE of York's oldest and most prestigious golf clubs wants to build a new 12-bay driving range for its members.

Pike Hills Golf Club put forward an application to City of York Council to erect the new building on the practice area at the Askham Bryan-based course.

In a letter to planning chiefs, the club says it will only allow club members and green fee payers to use the facility, which would be open sided and would face west down the practice ground.

The club also states the site would be "well hidden from the A64" and would also be screened by a high hawthorn hedge and two rows of trees, meaning it would not be visible from the A1237 half a mile away.

The new range,which will come before a planning meeting in the coming weeks, would use fluorescent lighting to begin with - before moving to low-level flood lighting in the future.

The club, which was founded in 1904, has told planners it does not believe the new range would result in any more traffic off the busy A64.

Garry Dunn, club secretary, said the aim behind the plan was to keep Pike Hills moving forward and at the forefront of golf in North Yorkshire. He added that should the application be granted, the new driving range would be an invaluable teaching tool for professional Ian Gradwell and would help the club's burgeoning youth section.

"We want to improve Pike Hills and the practice ground," he said. "It's very popular and we want to do the very best for our members, guests and visiting societies.

"We are one of the few North Yorkshire clubs with a waiting list and we want to keep our members happy. It would give our professional a lot of different options, particularly after Easter.

"We feel you have to keep moving with the times. You can't stand still and we believe we are a forward thinking club. The driving range is what our members want and it would be another feather in our cap."