SPORTS enthusiasts can look forward to improved facilities after £50,000 of National Lottery cash was secured through Sport England’s Protecting Playing Fields fund.

The money will be used at Brierton sports centre to support a sports pitch improvement scheme which will enable the existing pitches to meet future FA requirements.

The investment comes as more local sports fields across the country are to be safeguarded and improved after Sport England announced a 50 per cent boost to the Olympic and Paralympic legacy fund.

The £5 million increase, made possible by sales of National Lottery tickets, is in response to huge demand for the programme from sports clubs and other local groups.

Councillor Robbie Payne, chairman of Hartlepool Borough Council’s regeneration services committee, said: “At a time when council resources continue to be squeezed, I’m delighted that we have been successful in being awarded a grant to help improve sports provision at the Brierton site.

“The council has put together an exciting package of developments at Brierton and a key part of this involves including high quality sports facilities for the people of our town.”

The investment is part of a major re-development of the site which will see new sporting infrastructure improvements along with new and complementary usages for the remaining part of the former Brierton Secondary School.

Sport England chairman, Nick Bitel, said: “The popularity of this legacy fund shows just how important good local playing fields are to grassroots sport. I’m delighted that even more communities will now benefit thanks to this extra lottery funding.

"But Sport England’s support for playing fields is about much more than money; every day our experts play a vital role in protecting sports provision through the planning system.”

Following a record number of bids, 76 projects across England have been successful in the fourth funding round and will share a total of £3.5 million. Over the four rounds, 727 pitches and nearly 2,600 acres across England have been protected and improved.

The playing field will also be protected from developers for at least 25 years.