A redundant sports area in Great Stukeley could be repurposed as a community park.

Stukeleys Parish Council wants to change the use of the playing field, off Ermine Street, and has submitted plans for the move to Huntingdonshire District Council.

It bought the land as a sports field in 1980 to meet the needs of local teams, but it has not been used for organised sport since 2019 when the last side pulled out.

Now the parish council wants to bring the land back into use with a wider community appeal after talks with residents.

In its application planners for the parish said: "What is now the playing field was purchased by the parish council in the 1980s to meet the demand for sports pitches from the village.

"This is no longer the case and the playing field is no longer used by any teams from the village and is of little use to the parish council or residents of the village - as shown by the consultation.

"The proposal is a direct result of consultation with the local community to bring about a repurposing of the field to better reflect the recreational and leisure needs of the community. The scheme is promoted by the parish council and supported by all three local district council members."

If approved the park would include walking routes, enhanced ecology and a dipping platform, tree planting, an ecologically based maintenance regime, a trim trail a multi-use games area and an open field to the centre.

The parish is expecting an objection in principle from Sport England over the loss of the former playing field despite the proposed games area.

Its application said: "The proposal is an example of sustainable locally focused development that will enhance the appearance of use of ecological value of and biodiversity of the site. It is considered that within the planning balance the benefits of the proposal significantly outweigh the loss of the unused playing pitch.

"It is requested Huntingdonshire District Council support the clear local support for the creation of the community park as a result of a thorough local consultation exercise predicated on the principles of localism."