MALVERN Hills District Council is being offered £42,700 to improve playing fields in the town, as part of the celebrations of the Queen's diamond jubilee.

The offer has been made by Sport England as part of its Protecting Playing Fields Olympic legacy fund.

IF MHDC accepts the money, it will pay for improvements at the Sling Lane Playing Fields, where the existing pitches are in bad condition due to poor drainage and unevenness. The project also aims to develop two new mini pitches and a rounders pitch.

Mark Hammond of MHDC said that the council had been notified of the offer and will be considering it through its normal procedures.

If the money is accepted, the field will become a Queen Elizabeth II Field, thanks to a partnership with Fields in Trust which is running a programme to mark the Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Olympics.

Sport England’s Chair, Richard Lewis, said: “These investments will transform the local pitches where many young people have their first experience of sport. With all of the playing fields safe from development for at least a generation, communities across the West Midlands can look forward to years of sporting enjoyment.”

*A planning application for changing rooms on the Sling Lane site was due to be decided last week, but has now been deferred.

The application, by Newtown Sports FC, was on the agenda of the southern area development control committee.

However, the council learned that not all interested parties had been informed about the meeting, and members decided the decision should be postponed. It is likely to appear at the next scheduled committee meeting on Wednesday, November 16.