EVESHAM United has chosen the height of football fever to submit detailed plans for a new ground at Cheltenham Road.

For ten years the club has been battling to relocate from its run-down Common Road ground near the centre of town, to a purpose built base on the edge of town.

Last year Wychavon District Council agreed to change the status of the new site, off the bypass roundabout, from agricultural to football use, subject to a long list of conditions.

This week detailed plans were submitted, after more than a year's negotiations with landowners and planners.

Club chairman Jim Cockerton said: "Football has never been more popular with people of all ages. When these plans are passed the future of our club will be secured and it will provide a centre of excellence for football in the Vale of Evesham for years to come."

Already he said a mature women's and three girls' football teams were being planned in response to the growing interest.

Agent for the club Jim Powell said: "We have done our best to address all the planning concerns and hope our scheme, to improve football in the area for players, supporters, and the Vale's youth, are quickly passed."

The whole development of clubhouse, main pitch, two practice pitches, and stand for 300 supporters now lies within the Hinton-on-the-Green parish, with just the access within Evesham town.

The clubhouse, which is reduced in height from two storeys to one, now backs onto the Cheltenham Road.

A 2.4m wooden fence surrounds the main pitch, clubhouse and stand, with parking inside the ground and two practice pitches - all encompassed in landscaped woodland around the site's perimeter. Capacity for the ground is around 2,500.

Mr Powell said: "As part of a planning gain for the town, we have agreed to pay for a cycle track along Cheltenham Road."

A right of way runs through the 12 acre site, but the club hopes to get it diverted around one of the practice pitches.

If all goes to United's plan, the club could be relocated by September next year.