A football club is still pursuing plans to improve its ground, supporters were assured today.

Burgess Hill Town wants to make changes to its Leylands Park home, including a new covered terrace, new toilets and clubhouse access for disabled people.

The Sussex County League club submitted a planning application in January but council chiefs did not formally register it and asked the club for more information.

In March, the then club chairman Alan Pook said the application would be resubmitted to Mid Sussex District Council within two weeks. But Mr Pook left Burgess Hill in the summer to run Withdean FC's youth section and most of the plans have still to be resubmitted.

Peter Rainier, principal planning officer for the council, said: "We met the club recently but they haven't submitted all the correct details yet.

"I don't think there are any problems in principle with what they are after but it's up to them to send it in."

Club secretary Roger Puttick said: "The change of chairman and secretary held it all up but we are going ahead.

"We are putting in two separate applications, the second of which should hopefully be with the council within ten days."

The covered terrace would be next to the clubhouse, behind one of the goals. The club believes it would encourage more people to attend matches, creating extra revenue which would help pay for the other improvements.

With no seats and a small covered area on one side of the ground, club officials have talked of dramatically upgrading the ground in recent seasons.

But the current plans would be insufficient to allow the club promotion, should it win the County League again, as the ground would not meet stricter entry requirements for the Dr Marten's League.

Previous plans and changes to the ground annoyed some residents in the mid-Nineties, prompting claims the club was not a good neighbour.

But the Bedelands Farm Residents' Association says the relationship has improved greatly and the association is generally supportive of the latest scheme.

Burgess Hill Town has won a host of trophies in recent years, including the Sussex County League in three of the last four seasons.