COUNCILLORS have agreed to release £17,500 towards a town's ambitious plans for a sports complex.

The money from Richmondshire District Council will cover the early costs of a project to bring a new sporting facility to Colburn.

Civic leaders in the town have submitted a detailed bid to the Sport England Lottery Fund for £725,000 towards the £1m cost of the scheme.

The district cash will help project organisers overcome early cash flow difficulties.

The authority had been holding £17,500 of the town council's cash and the town's request for it to be released last week raised some doubts over the future of the project.

Then, senior district officials warned that a failed Lottery bid could leave both authorities heavily out of pocket and Colburn without a sports centre.

But councillors have agreed to release the funding to allow the scheme to press ahead.

The outcome of the Lottery bid is expected to be known in the next three months, but Colburn mayor Lynn Miller said a sports centre would be created in the town whether the application is successful or not.

The project has already won £275,000 from the Government's Single Regneration Budget and this would be used to fund a smaller scale facility.