An international language school in Cockfosters will go ahead despite opposition from people living nearby.

A former Benedictine monastery in Bramley Road is set to become a new residential school for international students after plans were given permission at an Enfield Borough Council meeting on Monday.

However, the decision has met with a barrage of complaints from campaigners, who suggest the council has not been able to gauge the noise it will create.

In total, 149 signatures were collected against the proposal, as opposed to the 70 initially stated on the planning proposal.

Once the school is finished, the calm and sedate surroundings previously enjoyed by the resident monks will be "shattered", according to Albert Squires of Bramley Road.

He said: "There is no way the council has been able to conduct a full noise survey that would properly represent what it would be like if you had all those children running around.

"Our tranquil surroundings will be shattered by our incoming noisy neighbours. The road is not always the quietest but this noise will only add to it."

Wendy Smith, also of Bramley Road, spoke at the meeting and claimed that there had been a lack of transparency in the noise surveys and was also concerned about the existing cemetery in the grounds of the monastery.

The school will be owned by Liberi di Educare, a non-profit language school based in Italy that specialises in providing English tuition to students ranging from ten years up to school leaving age.

Those attending the school will be allowed outside until 9pm with a maximum of 80 students attending.

It will also house up to 44 students between ten and 18 year olds.

Rob Smith, who represents the company, hoped the new school would be "good neighbours" with residents.

He said those staying at the site would be there no longer than a calendar month and that he did not expect the maximum quota of 44 resident pupils staying at any one time will be fulfilled.

The committee members agreed to pass the proposals but Cllr Ertan Hurer suggested that extra landscaping be considered when the monestary becomes the school.

Cllr Lionel Zetter, who represents Cockfosters ward, expressed his concerns about the new development.

He said: "This is a very significant change, which local residents oppose. There is a world of difference between a small group of monks quietly going about their devotions and a much larger - and undoubtedly much noisier - group of students.

"The concerns of residents have not been properly addressed, and I share their concerns."

The building was purpose-built as a monastery in the 1990s, associated with the adjacent Church of the Christ the King. At its peak, up to 18 monks would have occupied the building at any one time, but this has now been greatly reduced following the owner's decision to sell the site.