COLCHESTER Council is to spend £250,000 resurfacing an artificial football pitch.

The money will be spent at the Shrub End Sports Ground, off Queen Elizabeth Way, in Colchester.

The council agreed to pay Tiger Turf £254,950.79 to carry out the work.

It has recently agreed to lease the area to Colchester United’s Football in the Community scheme.

A report on the deal stated: “This is within the budget available using a combination of the council’s new homes bonus, the unspent community welfare grant, which used to be paid to Colchester United Community Sports Trust before its demise in 2013, and the balance from the previous tenancy at Shrub End.”

It is hoped the new pitch will last a decade.

The report stated: “The artificial turf pitch at Shrub End Sports Ground was installed in 2006 and is reaching the end of its life.

“The pitch also failed to meet the new FA standard, introduced in 2014, which means it can’t be used for competitive matches.

“It is important for the operator at Shrub End that competitive matches can be played on the pitch so that the programme is as full as possible and usage is maximised.

“The replacement pitch will mean the pitch can be used by the local community for years to come for informal sport and formal, competitive football matches.

“If the council did not agree to replace the artificial pitch at Shrub End, it probably would not have found a tenant to take on the lease to operate the site.”