A DECADE-LONG hunt for land to build sports recreation facilities for Didcot could soon end.

A 25-acre site east of the town has been found by Didcot Town Council.

The site, which is currently farmland, lies next to the A4130 at Hadden Hill by the Hadden Hill Golf Course.

The town council aims to buy the £1m land using New Homes Bonus funding, which is given to councils.

Town council leader Margaret Davies said: “It is great we have got this far. It looks very encouraging.

“It would allow a wider range of sports to be played and would mean some sports which at the moment take place in parks to up their game and move up in the leagues.”

The sports pitches are expected to cater for cricket, rugby, hockey and football.

It has not yet been decided what facilities will be built.

A pavilion or clubhouse with toilets and changing rooms would likely be included and Mrs Davies hopes allotments could be created as well.

Public consultations about the plans are due to start in February at Didcot Civic Hall.

Outline planning permission for the pitches would then be requested to South Oxfordshire District Council.

Mrs Davies said the town council will only buy the site after permission is granted. Building would take more than a year.

She added that the price could not be made known at this stage but the Government’s valuation office, which has to agree the price offered for land by all town or parish councils, has approved it.

After public consultation the council plans to ask the Government’s Public Works Loan Board for the money.

Didcot Rugby Club’s Andy Rolfe and Didcot Cricket Club’s Paul Costello have told the Oxford Mail new pitches were desperately needed.