A VILLAGE football team will find out today if its dream of finding a new pitch will get council backing.

Members of Bowes Football Club, County Durham, will be keeping their fingers crossed as councillors meet to discuss the club's plans to play matches on a strip of land in the centre of the village.

The club presently plays at Stonebridge Farm, near Bowes, but the sale of the land by the owner has forced the team to find a new ground.

Last year, club members thought they had cracked it when they discovered a plot of land at the Annums, in the middle of Bowes.

But it later turned out to be the site of former a Roman fort, and archaeologists refused to give the plans their backing.

Members of Teesdale District Council's development control committee deferred the matter last month to wait for further tests to be carried out by Durham County Council archaeologist Niall Hammond.

But despite the tests, and a report from the county archaeologist, who has given the scheme his backing, councillors will be recommended to refuse the application when they meet this morning.

Geoff Thwaites, manager of the club, said: "I just hope they can back this and give it the go-ahead because it is so important for the club and for the village."