PITCHES at Back Lane Playing Fields are to get a new lease of life after sharing in a £200,000 investment in grassroot sports facilities.

Cheshire East Council has bought a fleet of modern maintenance machinery, including tractors, to improve the quality of the borough's sports pitches.

It says amateur footballers can look forward to improved surfaces and better drainage, while a new robotic line marker should help remove disputes about penalty decisions.

The government's Football Foundation has injected £100,000 into the project to match the council's funding and there is also support from the Premier League and the FA.

Staff at Ansa, Cheshire East's environment company, are applying a new bespoke maintenance programme.

As well as Back Lane in Congleton, other playing fields benefitting from the new maintenance programme include King George V in Crewe and Sutton Lane in Middlewich.

Cllr Mick Warren, Cheshire East Council chair of environment and communities, said: "Improving the quality and durability of our sports pitches is overdue and we hope that by offering better maintenance and a higher standard of facilities, this will encourage more people to take up sport and lead active lives."