A naturist social club is fighting to keep its caravans after objections from a parish council.

About 150 members of Eureka Naturist Club in Fawkham, near Sevenoaks, have signed a petition asking the district council to grant retrospective planning permission for eight static caravans.

Members say the accommodation has been on the site since the 1970s, used to put up members following late night naturist parties at the wooded 23-acre site.

The original owner of the site did not apply for permission at the time, and Fawkham Parish council is now trying to have the caravans removed.

Mike Davies, the club's director, said a lot of salacious reports over the years have painted Eureka in the wrong light.

"Clothes are optional - if you want to dance and want to dance nude then you can, but some do wear clothes and it's up to them" - Mike Davies, director

"We have parties mainly on a Friday or Saturday night, but they are absolutely not sex parties in any shape or form," he said.

"Clothes are optional - if you want to dance and want to dance nude then you can, but some do wear clothes and it's up to them.

"The parties are where the caravans come in. They allow members to have a drink as they don't have to drive home."

The long-running club boasts more than 700 members and attracts people from all over the UK, with visitors dropping in from Europe and beyond.

Mr Davies said: "We have people from Edinburgh and Cornwall come to visit us. We even have people travel from Holland, France and Germany. In fact we had a group from Canada over last week.

"To be honest, it's no different to Butlins."

Mr Davies says the club has been a benefit to the local economy as members make use of local shops, pubs and hotels.

He said: "We're a niche market in that we're a naturist club. We've added nothing here in the last ten years so it's all a bit silly.

"From a business point of view we'd love to build more accommodation - we could fill it many time over - but we know we wouldn't be allowed to do that and anyway, it would spoil the ethos of the place.

"We've had a couple of complaints over the years, from walkers who said they could see them from the road and I think they upset some lady golfers once, but it's not considered a problem" - Cllr Moss

"Wherever possible we try to pass on business to local hoteliers, who take the overspill from our accommodation.

"We're good for the local economy."

But chairman of Fawkham Parish Council Lawrence Moss said the village sees little benefit from the club, and members usually keep themselves to themselves.

Cllr Moss says the nature of the club does not worry the locals.

"In a general sense it doesn't bother us," he said. We've had a couple of complaints over the years, from walkers who said they could see them from the road and I think they upset some lady golfers once, but it's not considered a problem."

Instead, Cllr Moss says objections to the caravans are purely on planning grounds.

The council is seeking to enact an enforcement notice ordering the removal of the caravans drawn up in the 1970s.

Reasons given include inappropriate development on the greenbelt and the fact residential caravan parks are not allowed in the area.