CALLS are to be made for Ryedale District Council to spend £50,000 on a study to decide whether to build a sports centre and running track.

The authority will be urged by Councillor Elizabeth Shields to carry out a feasibility study into the possibility of a centre being built in central Ryedale.

She said the £50,000 could be provided by the authority's community investment fund.

Coun Shields, who also wants a members' steering group to be set up to monitor the study, said she believed that there were two possible sites for the project - the grounds of Malton School, or opposite Ryedale House, in Old Malton Road.

She said many representations had been made to her for a centre to provide such sports as five-a-side football, basketball, netball, and cricketing nets."

"I believe this could be Ryedale's last chance to build such a centre for its residents, should there been an amalgamation of our council with others, and the setting up of a regional assembly," she said.

She believed the scheme could be a joint project involving North Yorkshire County Council, with funding from the National Lottery and other bodies.