THE final phase of a redevelopment of a Ferryhill playing field could go ahead if funding is granted this evening.

About £70,000 has already been spent on improving the King George V field during the past 18 months.

The field, which previously only had a set of goal posts and very little else, now boasts a full-size football pitch and five-a-side pitch, a BMX track, toddlers' play area, basketball court and CCTV cameras.

Ferryhill Town Council has led the scheme, with support from Sedgefield Borough Council, Sure Start, the National Playing Fields Association and local company Lafarge.

The town council has applied for a grant for £15,000 from the tidy estates and community involvement initiative for footpaths and lighting columns.

Sedgefield Borough Council's area forum for Ferryhill will consider the application tonight.

Town council executive officer Jamie Corrigan said: "The last phase is for footpaths to make all the different areas accessible.

"We did consult with people and one of the points we got back in the feedback was to put lighting in to make the area safer because it is used at night to cut through from one part of Ferryhill to another."

The development has proved extremely popular in the town and Mr Corrigan said he feels the scheme is appropriate to the tidy estates initiative, because it is surrounded on all sides by council houses.

He said: "The field is very well used and you only have to go past on a summer's day to see how many people are on it. It's a very popular facility."