A NEW state-of-the-art artificial Football pitch is being built in Weymouth.

Total funding of £280,175 has been won to lay the new floodlit pitch at the Redlands Community Sports Hub off Dorchester Road with new car parking, pathways and road lighting also being put in.

Weymouth College – which runs the facility – gained the grants to provide the new Third Generation (3G) playing surface and director of operations Kieren Hasler hopes it will be a great boost for sport in the town.

He said: “It was a really good opportunity for everyone involved.

“The football association identified a need for this area to have a new pitch and we worked with the Football Foundation to get the funding to put it in place.”

The Football Association provided £200,000 with the Football Foundation provided the rest.

The new pitch is being put down next to the current sand based pitch close to the railway line – which was laid in September 1998.

The Thomas Hardye Leisure Centre in Dorchester gained £124,000 to resurface its artificial pitch last year with a 3G pitch.

The rubber crumb base has proved a popular alternative to sand with the surface believed to be less damaging for players’ knees when they make contact with it.

Caroline Lyons, Redlands manager, said they are taking bookings for the new pitches as they will be ready for matches in May.

She said: “We wouldn’t be able to install such a great facility without the generous funding from the Football Foundation.”

Paul Thorogood, chief executive of the Football Foundation, said: “On behalf of everyone at the Football Foundation I would like to congratulate and commend Redlands Community Sports Hub and the Dorset County FA for all the hard work that has been invested into securing this grant.

He added: “These facilities are for everyone to enjoy irrespective of the level at which they play.

“However for a talented few they may well be where the next generation of elite players will initially hone their skills.”