A leading member of Workington Town Council has added his support to a junior football club’s hopes of staying at their base.
Workington Juniors feared it would lose its home at the Ranch at Moss Bay after the owner put the land up for sale.
Workington Town Council is looking to buy the land to secure the club’s future.
Paul Scott, chairman of the council’s finance and general purposes committee, said he was pleased when the club had turned to the town council for help.
He said: “I’ve always said that as a council we should do everything possible to support our residents and our communities.
“The sub-committee is now pushing forward to hopefully enable the fantastic work the club has done to continue for the next 20 years.
“It is an opportunity to develop a real community project that will deliver for many years to come.”
There were real fears that the Ranch – which has been a sporting institution in the town for 70 years – would be lost.
The owner had offered to sell the land to the council and the Workington Juniors members lobbied a council meeting earlier this month.
Club chairman David Garrett said: “Since that meeting further due diligence has been, or is very close to being, completed.
“Allerdale and the county council did not place any barriers in the way of progress.
“We have also engaged with other stakeholders outside of the football community. They will have additional methods for the variety of short and longer term phases of the projects.
“They have been very positive and share the joint vision of Workington Town Council and Workington Juniors Football Club.
“Additional support and guidance on development plans is there which offers significant support to achieve our plans.
“This is a huge opportunity for the club and the wider community. Never has there been such interest in achieving something that will be sustained and offer so much to the communities it is embedded into.
“Without Workington Town Council we, as a club, could not achieve this.
“Their commitment to this really does show that when people work together it only improves the wider community.
“As a club it is very encouraging given this as we have seen years of reduced investment within our local area.”
