Windfall funds £400,000 pavilion

Young village footballers are in line for a new pavilion

A village football team is celebrating a windfall of nearly £400,000 for a new sports pavilion.

The money has been handed to the parish council in Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire, by the Football Foundation, the UK's largest sports charity.

The village has been campaigning for a new pavilion for more than seven years.

The £394,178 donation will pay for six new changing rooms, two rooms for match officials, new toilets, a kitchen and refreshment area.

The parish council has been working for two years with local groups to land this cash injection

Alan Curtis of Barton Parish Council

The pavilion will be the largest in the county.

With the new facilities the council hopes to expand the village game to include a ladies' team and a veterans' squad for older players.

Barton Parish Council's sports field committee chairman Alan Curtis said: "The parish council has been working for two years with local groups to land this cash injection for a project that has been on the drawing board for over seven years.

"Barton le Clay welcomes the investment and opportunity to continue to develop community sports within our village and surrounding area."