BRIDPORT Town Council wants to build the best multi-purpose games arena it can and now with nearly £30,000 from Sport England it is going to do just that.

Councillors gave permission to town council surveyor Daryl Chambers to source the right contractor and arena fencing.

Usually projects costing more than £10,000 have to go out to tender but Mr Chambers said it was difficult to do in this case as manufacturers all produced different types of fencing and he would not be comparing like for like.

He said: “What I want to do is get it on best value, so price will be one part of it, warranty will be another.”

He showed councillors on the finance and general purposes committee samples of the fencing. He said: “Don’t forget we want this to last and it will be the most used area other than the skatepark and the play area in West Bay. I want this to be the best one available for Bridport because we have something like 12 teams that use our two pitches, Bridport have got three teams using their pitch, “It is going to be a floodlit facility at night, in the day it will be open to schools and the day centre and anybody who wants to use it.

“In the holidays anybody who wants to will be able to use it. It won’t be locked so there won’t be any need to climb over it.

“We want it used.”

He said the surface would be marked out for football, netball, wheelchair use, and could be used for anything people wanted.

“Bridport Football Club is very excited by it. They can train on it in winter when their pitches are wet.” Mr Chambers said the only other all-weather surface was at the Sir John Colfox School and that cost £35 for half an hour, which many people could not afford.

The multi-use games arena is a priority one project in the current town plan and there is £18,000 from the budget set aside for it, as well as the £27,500 Sport England grant.