Witham Town are delighted to be able to expand their provision of youth football thanks to a cash boost from Braintree District Council’s Mi Community fund.

The £10,000 that the club have received will be used to erect a steel fence around land that the council have leased to them for extra football pitches to make the area safe for the young players.

The land that is being leased will allow Witham to increase the number of pitches they have from two to five and increase the number of youth teams from 12 to 20.

Witham secretary Kevin Carroll said: “At the moment most of our youth teams play all over Witham, but as a result of what Braintree Council have done for us, our teams will all be able to play at one venue. This is fantastic news for the club and community.

“I would like to thank Graham Butland, leader of BDC, and chief executive Nicola Beach as they have both supported this project from day one. Our club ambassador Priti Patel MP and Witham Town Mayor, councillor Bill Rose, have been great again and we could not have achieved this project without their help and support.

“Finally I would also like to thank Sarah Stockings, Michael Shorten and Julie Buchan from Braintree District Council.”