A SCHOOL has been awarded a £107,500 grant to provide a new generation of community sports facilities.

Roseberry Sport and Community College, at Pelton, near Chester-le-Street, will create one of the region's leading sports facilities by installing a floodlit artificial pitch.

It will complement the school's existing changing rooms, eight grass pitches and an all-purpose playing field.

The facilities will be open outside school hours for use by the community.

The cash has come from the UK's largest sports charity, the Football Foundation.

Kevan Jones, MP for North Durham, said: "It's fantastic for the future of sport in this area that the foundation is creating these exciting new opportunities for young people.

"I would like to see more schools, clubs and local organisations getting in touch with the foundation to see how they can help develop their facilities or to implement their community projects.

"With the backing of the Government, the future of grassroots football in north Durham is looking a lot brighter."

Links will be established with clubs and primary schools which will be encouraged to use the ground for training, matches and football tournaments.

Funded by the FA Premier League, the Football Association, Sport England and the Government, the aim of the Football Foundation is to revitalise the grassroots of the game, constructing modern football facilities, developing football as a force for social cohesion and as a vehicle for education in communities