Work starts this month on an £870,000 sports ground which will provide all-weather facilities for York's sporting talent.

The Hopgrove Playing Fields Association has ambitious plans for the site off Malton Road, between the A64 and Monks Cross roundabouts.

Funded partly by a £570,000 Lottery Sports Fund grant and generous donations from a number of local bodies, the development will consist of five full-size football pitches and a training pitch, a multi-purpose all-weather pitch with floodlighting, an archery range and a cricket square.

There will also be changing-rooms with showers and a refreshment area and a well-lit car park covered by full security.

Machinery to begin the drainage and levelling process will be on site on March 22 and the scheme will get the official seal of approval from the Lord Mayor of York, Councillor Derek Smallwood, at a ceremony on March 29.

Steve Mattingley, chairman of Hopgrove Playing Fields Association, said the ground would provide a permanent home for many local clubs which have been displaced by other developments or have never had space of their own.

Among them will be Heworth Amateur Football Club, Huntington Junior Football Club, Stockton and Hopgrove Cricket Club and York Archers Society.

He said: "The whole development will be designed to cater for people with disabilities.

Mr Mattingley anticipates the all-weather pitch will be in use by September although the other pitches will not be finished for a year because they have to be seeded.

He said: "We are keen to encourage people with disabilities to use them and also to encourage minority sports.

"We are all very excited about this.

"The project began five years ago and we are nearly there now."

The association's treasurer has recently resigned due to family and work commitments and a volunteer is needed to take his place. Mr Mattingley said: "We already have the help of an accountant who provides us with professional advice so my ideal for the job would perhaps be a retired accountant who could offer a couple of hours a week for administration of cheques etc." Anyone who can help should contact Steve Mattingley on 01904 414564.

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