RESIDENTS who live near the County Ground are cheering the news that Bristol Rovers will not be moving in.

The Pirates have announced they are moving to Cheltenham's Whaddon Road home from the middle of next season while their Memorial Stadium is redeveloped, and not the County Ground.

The club will begin building an 18,500 all-seater arena in early 2008, which is expected to take around 18 months.

Coun Sinead Darker (Con, Central), who organised a protest against Rovers coming to town, said: "I'm just pleased because I know the residents are absolutely thrilled. It's very good news for them. They were talking about picketing the club and blocking the road."

As reported in the Adver, residents from Shrivenham Road and County Road gathered outside the stadium last Friday to air their views against the proposed ground share.

Coun Darker said: "They were worried about the extra noise and litter as well as the nuisance of having a match every single Saturday as opposed to every other Saturday.

"There was also the threat of crowd violence because of the antipathy between Swindon and Bristol Rovers fans."

Coun Darker criticised Swindon Town for not consulting the residents.