THE chairman of Stockton Town Football Club has vowed not to give up on major expansion plans despite a set-back.

As previously reported, the club's latest plans to relocate its main natural turf pitch with floodlighting and another to create an artificial pitch at its base on Stockton’s Bishopton Road West has been withdrawn.

The club made the decision to withdraw its two associated applications after scores of objections from residents on the Bramley Green citing concerns over noise and traffic.

It has now come to light that neighbouring school, Our Lady and St Bede's, which has been made an academy school out of Stockton Borough Council control, said it could not support the plans at the present time as legal issues surrounding the land had not been dealt with properly.

However club chairman, Martin Hillerby, said that the club still has permission in place for its original expansion plans which were approved by Stockton Borough Council's planning committee last year.

Furthermore the club still had an option on £600,000 of funding from Sport England to develop those plans.

He said: "We're in a limbo situation and we need to decide where we want to go next. But the expansion is not off. All we have done is withdraw the relocation plans, we haven't said that we're giving up altogether.

"I think some people don't realise that we're building a true community club and attracting inward investment for the town. Every member of our first team is a Stockton lad and 50 per cent played for our junior teams. We have 20 teams. We really want to serve our community."

Headmaster of Our Lady and St Bede’s Catholic Academy, Stockton, Chris Hammill said that the school was very supportive of Stockton Town FC's proposals which could have led to improved sporting facility access for the pupils, but legal issues had to be dealt with.

He said: "We have been really excited about the development but on this occasion the timescale involved did not allow for the due legal process to take place with regards to the land, despite every effort. We are still totally open to working with all partners to make a feature like this work but legally it has to be done under due process.”

The original planning application approved by Stockton council last year despite more than 100 objections included a 200-seat stand, floodlighting, artificial turf pitch, pay booth, changing facilities and toilet and refreshment areas. The club, currently leading the Wearside Football League, moved to its current premises at a cost of £1.4 million in 2008. The club's typical support is in the lower hundreds for a match.