A football training centre for hundreds of young people has been proposed for Eastbourne.

Bosses at Eastbourne Borough FC and Langney Point Junior FC are bidding to extend their ground.

They propose to convert the 11-acre field, which joins on to the existing pitch in Priory Lane, Eastbourne, into a youth football centre.

Bill Wheatley, chairman of the junior club, said: "At the moment it is just a disused field. The idea is to totally tidy up the area and turn it into pitches for the town.

"It all depends on people's responses to the idea. It really is in the early stages at the moment."

If the application is successful, club members plan to prepare more pitches and build changing rooms and shower facilities.

More than 350 young people, aged between six and 16, are members of the junior club, with many joining the ranks of the borough club as they get older.

Mr Wheatley said: "We are getting so many children playing for us and we don't want to be in the position where we are turning children away because we don't have the facilities."

Officers at the borough council have recommended the proposal for approval.

Diane Bagley, head of sport, recreation and leisure for the council, said: "If the council agrees to lease the land, this will enable external funding to be drawn for the development of a valuable additional youth facility for the town."

The proposal will be discussed by councillors at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday at 6pm.