Just under £1m of grant funding from a charity to help build a new floodlit 3G pitch and other playing facilities at a Ramsbottom site has been officially accepted.

Bury Council has formally signed off £999,498 (70 per cent) to be passed from the Football Foundation to create the new pitch at Top Park along with a pavilion extension and car park improvements.

The local authority, which is the owner of the site and the applicant of the project, will be contributing up to £425,000 as match funding towards a total cost of £1,424,498.

The council is also teaming up with Ramsbottom Junior Football Club, who are joint applicants and will be responsible for the day to day operation and management of the site.

Last year, club secretary Matthew Horne said the new facilities will be "fantastic" as it will allow them to accommodate its growing membership. 

He said: “It’s something we’ve been asking for for a number of years now, I’ve been with the club for about 10 to 12 years now and at that time we had about five to six teams and we were able to manage things quite easily.

“Over the last 10 years we have grown and we now have 60 teams with 750 players.

“As you can imagine, it’s put pressure on facilities.”

The match funding of £425,000 will be met from approved capital budgets, a council officer delegation document shows.

A "project implementation team" will now be established to oversee the works on site and to monitor the terms and conditions from the Football Foundation.

The pitch construction elements of the project will be undertaken by Lanosport, a sports surface specialist, on the council's behalf.

Construction of the pavilion and car park is being managed by Steve Wells Associates, who also managed the bid process.

A lease agreement will be implemented in partnership with the football club for the pitch, pavilion and also for the grass pitches for a period of not less than 21 years.