CHINNOR'S community sports club is to become more environmentally sustainable, following a £237,000 grant.

The money came from National Lottery Funding from Sport England's Improvement Fund.

It is one of 23 projects across England to share in £7.3 million of Lottery investment.

The new facility will replace the old sports and social pavilion and will be constructed on the playing fields off Station Road, Chinnor.

A group comprised of parish councillors, representatives from the sports clubs, trustees and members of the community have been working hard over the last few years to produce a design that meets sporting and community needs and to secure the necessary funding.

The design is for a single storey L-shaped building with a low roof profile. It will include a suite of fully equipped changing rooms designed to provide easy access to the pitches. It will also act as a social meeting place with kitchen, bar area and function rooms.

Parish councillor, Steve Bird, said: "We are delighted to have secured Sport England funding at this crucial stage of the project. Sport England's investment in our project further strengthens our objective to provide a first class sporting experience in Chinnor for a range of ages, gender and abilities, leading to increased and sustained participation in a range of sports."

By making changes to become more environmentally sustainable, sports clubs can save money on their running costs, reducing their energy bills by ten to 20 per cent.