A LAST-ditch bid to save the former home of the county’s cricket club and its historic pavilion has taken another step forward.

Worcester City Council has formally agreed to put £65,000 towards a scheme to return the Cinderella sports ground back to its former glory.

We previously reported how the city council has until Monday, March 19, to decide whether to take up the option of a 25-year lease on the ground off Bransford Road, St John’s, Worcester, at a peppercorn rate.

Council chiefs are hopeful that a deal can be done at this late stage and now that cabinet has formally agreed to stump up the funds it signals their intent.

At the meeting, Councillor Francis Lankester, cabinet member for safer and stronger communities, said: “In Worcester we have a surplus of indoor sports leisure facilities but a lack of outdoor facilities.

“People might think it’s the other way around but it’s not and here we have a great chance at providing a very important facility for that part of the city.”

The proposal hinges on the success of a £50,000 funding bid to Sport England and also whether the council can get a partner to manage the site, which has tennis courts, a bowling green, football and cricket pitches.

However, that is not a done deal – so the scheme to reinstate the playing pitches and redevelop the pavilion, which is expected to cost up to £185,000, still hangs in the balance.

A number of voluntary sector sports clubs have already expressed an interest in using the ground if it is re-instated.

The ground – home of Worcestershire County Cricket Club until 1899 when it moved to New Road – and its 136-year-old pavilion is owned by Arndale Property.

Developers wanted to demolish the pavilion in 2006 only to be stopped because sparrows were found nesting in the building, making its demolition illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

The site was part of the Kay & Co complex and was used for sport for more than 125 years.