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ANDREW Flintoff has won his battle to build a mansion in Mottram St Andrew after his initial plans were bowled out following neighbours’ complaints.

The cricketing superstar went back to the drawing board and now has permission for a six-bedroom house on Withinlee Road.

As reported in the Express, residents argued the size of the house in his old plans was too big, claiming it would impose on the area.

Revised blueprints, complete with a basement leisure complex with two pools, a gym, sauna, cinema, bar and snooker room, were accepted by Macclesfield Borough Council.

So he will now join the area’s thriving sporting superstar fraternity, including Wayne Rooney, Owen Hargreaves and Carlos Tevez, who live in Prestbury.

And some neighbours are upbeat at the prospect of having one of the best cricket players of the modern era on their doorstep.

Margo Cornish, who will live across the road, said: "As long as it’s aesthetically pleasing and he doesn’t cut any trees down, and it doesn’t damage the greenbelt, then I don’t mind.

"He has got to get on with his life like anybody else, whether he is Freddie Flintoff or not."

Roger Gorvin, 70, chairman of Prestbury Cricket Club, added: "We would love him to help teach us, it would be wonderful – we have nine junior teams.

"He is a busy man and I doubt if he would have the inclination, but we would always welcome him."

On the ground floor the Flintoffs will have a kitchen and breakfast room, a drawing room, study and dining room. The second and third floors will have six en-suite bedrooms. There is enough room left in the garden for more than one cricket net.

Flintoff, 30, nicknamed Freddie, plans to move in with wife Rachael and children Holly, 3, Corey, 2, and new addition Rocky.

The Lancashire and England all-rounder bought the original two-storey building from Manchester City boss Mark Hughes last October, adding to a portfolio of five properties dotted around the world.