PLANS for a multi-million pound indoor skate centre in Malvern have ground to a halt after organisers failed to secure a crucial grant.

The TG’s Project was set up in memory of skating enthusiast Tim Greenwood, who died of leukaemia in 2003.

Last year, the project’s organisers were set to apply for £3.8 million from the Government’s Myplace Fund, hoping Worcestershire County Council would allow the centre to be sited on land occupied by a disused BMW track off Townsend Way.

Spokesman John Tinnion, said: “The county council owns the land and we just couldn’t get them to agree to let us have it.

“Without that, the Myplace bid couldn’t succeed. I think they’ve got it earmarked for housing.”

He said TG’s Project organisers were bitterly disappointed by the setback but were also prepared to start looking for a new site.

Mr Tinnion said: “We’ll recover from this. We’ll get it built eventually, wherever we have to site it.”

He emphasised that the setback did not affect TG’s other activities, such as TG’s Red health education, Party in the Park, skate competitions and Outward Bound-style activities, which are all thriving.

A county council spokes-man said: “TG did contact us to ask if we could donate the land off Townsend Way as part of their MyPlace bid to build a new skatepark.

“Although it was a worthy cause, the land was potentially high value and any decision to sell or donate such assets as this has to go through cabinet.

“As a result, we did help TG try to find alternative sites and another location was looked at. However the project never really got that far as the criteria for a MyPlace Round 2 bid effectively ruled out the site as a viable option.

“The county council informed TG of the difficulties their bid encountered throughout.”