Project design hit by slump

Ambitious plans for a new £1.2 million sports park on the fringe of the Black Country have had to be drastically downscaled due to a funding crisis.

Bosses of Kewford Eagles football club had set their sights on a seven-figure project to transform a 30-acre patch of land next to Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club in Swindon Road, Wall Heath.

Under proposals the scheme would have featured a clubhouse as well as 11 pitches including an all-weather sports field and premier football pitch.

The plans were unveiled after the club secured a 30-year lease for the sprawling plot and a fundraising drive was launched.

However project leader and former club chairman Colin Worthington admitted today plans for the clubhouse and all-weather surface have been shelved indefinitely after the club failed to secure sufficient financial backing.

Revised plans for the football pitches and temporary changing accommodation, estimated to cost less than half of the original £1.2 million projection, are expected to be submitted within days.

Father-of-three Mr Worthington, aged 53, of Wall Heath, said the recession had forced the rethink.