Oxfordshire's amateur sports clubs could soon benefit from tax relief in the same way as charities, councillors have heard.

Neville Harris, Labour county councillor for Didcot and a former football refereee, had called on the council to write to all Oxfordshire's MPs urging them to support a private members' bill which would have resulted in tax breaks for non-profit sports clubs.

However, the motion, which would have been discussed by the council's cultural services committee yesterday, was withdrawn after Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announced the Government was looking into providing tax relief to sports clubs.

Mr Harrissaid sports' clubs contributed enormously with training and in all sorts of other ways to the life of towns and villages.

The council's Labour group had long pressed for the role of sports clubs in the voluntary sector to be acknowledged in the tax system in the same way that charities were granted tax breaks.

Cllr Harris called for the Chancellor to give details of the financial proposals, but he anticipated the Government would be providing substantial tax relief to clubs.