PLANS for a £3million indoor sports facility in Shipston have been backed by local residents.

Around 70 people turned up at a public meeting last week to discuss the proposal for the facility, which would be built on land at Shipston High School.

Meeting organiser Janet Connor, chairman of Shipston Tennis Club, received another dozen or so emails from interested people who were unable to attend.

As a result of the meeting, a steering group has been formed and is due to meet in the next couple of weeks to decided a course of action.

The ambitious plan for the sports facility, which could include four indoor tennis courts, a multi-sports court and associated changing rooms, storage areas, office and reception area, is the brainchild of Mrs Connor, who has been working on the project for more than three years.

If it eventually gets the go-ahead, it is also planned to have a full-sized floodlit astroturf pitch, with car parking and new access roads at the site.

"There was a considerable cross-section of the sporting public at the meeting.

"About 20 of them were from the tennis club," said Mrs Connor.

She has signed up five people to join the steering group and is expecting to hear from at least another two people who are willing to get involved.

"I wanted people who were able to come along to meetings, who were enthusiastic and were able to do things between meetings," she said.

"There were several other people who have got quite a lot of knowledge and information but who couldn't spare the time to attend meetings.

"We will tap into that knowledge and get them to pass information on," she added.

Mrs Connor said no-one at the meeting had anything negative to say about the proposal, although some people asked whether four tennis courts were needed and suggested that another multi-sports court could be included in the plan.

The next stage for the project is to apply for grants from the district and town council towards professional fees, so an architect can be commissioned to draw up plans before seeking planning permission, said Mrs Connor.

A business plan also has to be produced.

"I was incredibly heartened by the response from the public and their support for this initiative," she said.