HOPES have been dashed of preserving a £3m stand at a doomed former football stadium so it can be rebuilt at another sports facility.

Feethams, the former home of Darlington Football Club, is to be demolished before Easter after falling into disrepair since the club left the ground in 2003.

Darlington Borough Council is poised to serve a demolition notice next week to the owner of the land - Darlington Cricket Field Trust - ordering that the site must be flattened on the grounds of safety.

Although there were hopes of preserving part of the Feethams heritage by keeping the East Stand - built in 1998 at a cost of £3m - and adding it to one of the town's existing sports facilities, council officials said there would be little chance as the cost would run into millions of pounds.

Councillors at Thursday's full meeting of the council also backed plans to demolish Feethams, which has been subject to vandalism and arson attacks, and authorised that the council should finance the £200,000 demolition cost if the cricket field trust was unable to.

Councillor Ian Haszeldine raised the prospect of relocating the stand, asking if it was a foregone conclusion that the entire stadium had to be demolished.

"Could the stand be deconstructed and then reconstructed elsewhere in the town? Has any thought been given to it being relocated?" he asked.

"It could be worth looking at, whether it could be taken to Eastbourne Sports Complex, which could benefit from using it.

"I know it would be expensive, but if we have a resource like that, then isn't it worth using?"

However, the hopes of supporters were dashed when they were told it was not practicable.

John Buxton, director of development and the environment, said the only real option with Feethams was demolition.

"Although anything is possible, of course, it would be too expensive to move the stand.

"It does not belong to the council so we would have to buy it and moving it would cost a couple of million pounds because other facilities, such as the conference suites, are an integral part of it.

"The full stand would also be too big for the Eastbourne Sports Complex."