YOUNG sports fans could be in line for a new £500,000 facility on their doorstep -- if development plans get the go ahead.

Pupils at Gisburn Road Primary School in Barnoldswick currently travel to Colne to play football but a proposed sports development in Victory Park could blow the whistle on that.

Pendle Council is expected to put in a bid for external funding to carry out a proposed £461,500 development scheme in the park.

Members of the West Craven Committee will be asked at their meeting tomorrow night to recommend a funding application to the Sports Council as soon as possible.

Main proposals for the park are to provide two additional football and rugby pitches on the site of the current pitch and putt course.

Plans also include a new pavilion to service both the existing pitches and the proposed new ones and changing rooms for male and female with disabled access. Acting deputy headteacher at Gisburn Road, Ian Ingham, said: "Having a pitch we could use there would be ideal for us because although it is a distance to walk with 60 children it is better playing on grass than anything else. It would be extremely useful for us and could be used for other sports as well as football, such as rounders.

"The main concern for us is that the pitches are kept clean and there's no dog dirt. It would need to be secured because we couldn't spend half an hour checking it all first."

Representatives from local football clubs have said that the current demand for football pitches outstrips availability and there has been an increase in junior football, while Pendle Croquet Club have expressed an interest in using Victory Park.

A report to the committee explains that the construction of pitches would incorporate the latest developments in order to reduce the use of non-regenerative materials to a minimum and the pavilion would use the latest techniques in order to reduce energy consumption.

Fred Stewart, service manager (parks, cemeteries and outdoor recreation) at Pendle Council, has recommended to councillors that the plans for a new pavilion be commissioned and that the conversion of the pitch and putt course in to sports pitches be approved.

He has also advised approving landscaping of the West Close end of Victory Parks.

Lancashire County Council will also be asked for its support.