Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has approved a grant for Leek Cricket Club to help them with ground maintenance.

The grant was approved at a meeting of the council's Cabinet earlier today as part of its latest Rural Sports Villages strategy.

Leek Nub News reported previously how the council was considering the grant.

The council says the cricket club is hoping to improve its ground maintenance programme and allow older members to share their knowledge with juniors.

The cost comes to over £6,000 - but the cricket club have already raised a considerable chunk of this themselves.

The agenda states: "Leek Cricket Club has aspirations to improve their grounds maintenance programme and develop their intergenerational work within the club, through the refurbishment of an existing roller adding a push button start.

"The roller refurbishment will ensure better grounds maintenance and allow older members to share their knowledge and train the junior members to ensure future sustainability and develop a cross generational community.

"A push button start on the roller will make it much lighter and easier to work with than the existing and more suitable for the role.

"The cost to refurbish the roller is £6,650 and the club have raised £2,650 towards this project. It is requested that a £4,000 funding contribution from the outdoor sports capital budget be made towards this project."

Cllr Mark Deaville said: "I am passionate about sport in the Moorlands and it should be inclusive - you don't need to be Cristiano Ronaldo to enjoy sport, and our strategy encourages sports for all."

And Cllr Joe Porter added: "A healthy body and mind are vital, and we've seen that especially in the pandemic. I was terrible at football and rugby, but I got into swimming and climbing, which just shows that everyone has something they can get into."

Councillors then voted unanimously to approved the Rural Sports Villages strategy, meaning the grant will now be allocated.