THE screening of World Cup football matches in Colchester next summer looks increasingly likely - but it may not be in Castle Park.

Council bosses had previously said it was unlikely the games would be shown on the screen, which has become a permanent feature in the beauty spot during the Wimbledon fortnight.

But following a meeting of cabinet members on Thursday night, Colchester Council leader Paul Smith (Lib Dem) has said holding the screenings at a venue other than the town centre park has been discussed.

However, the leader wouldn’t be drawn on where - or what - the potential venue is.

He said: “We have spoken about showing the matches somewhere else but I can’t share the name of the place.

“I will say that it has better facilities than the ones on offer at Castle Park.

“But the options are still being fully explored and nothing is certain yet.

“There’s another partner involved and it would be wrong for us to say anything more until there’s an agreement in place.

“It could happen in Castle Park, it could happen elsewhere or it might not happen at all.”

Mr Smith said the main reason for looking at somewhere other than Castle Park is because the final two weeks of the World Cup in Russia will clash with Wimbledon.

The men’s final at Wimbledon will take place on July 15 next year - the same day as the World Cup final.

And to further complicated things, the football final will kick-off at 3pm in the UK while the men’s tennis final will begin at 2pm.

Matches from Wimbledon have been shown on a big screen in the town centre beauty spot for the past three years.

Mr Smith added: “It’s unlikely, but we could have a situation where England are playing in a World Cup final while Andy Murray is playing in the men’s final on Centre Court.

“I’m not sure about everyone else but in my household, that kind of clash would not be welcome.

“With just one screen we’d face a huge dilemma over which one we show.”

Mr Smith said the screenings would have to be ticketed and it is likely only England’s matches would be shown.

He said: “I can’t imagine a situation where we show all of the matches at the tournament.

“The demand for South Korea versus Iceland, for example, is not going to be as high as it would be for the England matches.

“We think the England screenings would be popular so we’d have to have control over the numbers.”

Some residents complained about behaviour problems as people left Castle Park following Oktoberfest last month.

Mr Smith said: “That wasn’t something we discussed specifically.”