CALNE Football Club's dreams of relocating to a purpose-built stadium at a site north of Calne have been dealt a double blow.

The Football Foundation's decision to grant Chippenham nearly £1 million for its new playing fields has scuppered any immediate plans to bid for cash from the same group.

And a nearby ancient medieval village, which is a scheduled monument protected by English Heritage, has been found to protrude into the proposed 30-acre site at Beversbrook.

Club chairman Steve Walker said he was disappointed and reiterated the town's desperate need for more recreational land.

But he said he is confident that plans to relocate the club in partnership with the town council will still go ahead.

"We are disappointed at the delay, but we're confident a mutually satisfactory solution can be found," he said.

"To be honest I was delighted for Chippenham, but it does reduce the chances of us getting money from the Football Foundation."

The football club and the town council were preparing a joint planning application to develop the site. It included a flood-lit all-weather playing pitch, a flood-lit grass pitch, another full-size grass pitch, five mini-pitches and a changing room on the site.

The council hoped to apply to the Football Foundation, which is a National Lottery funding body, for cash to develop the public playing pitches.

The football club was planning to apply for separate funding to build a league standard pitch, training pitch and a clubhouse at the site.

Calne Mayor Tony Trotman said the council has not ruled out the possibility of bidding for cash from the Football Foundation.

But he said the success of Chippenham's bid at a site just four miles from Beverbrook, means it is unlikely Calne will receive a grant in the future.

The council now wants to involve other sports groups in Calne which are interested in having their facilities based at Beversbrook.

It hopes that by broadening the appeal of the project to other sports beyond football, it can identify alternative sources of funding for the project, such as from Sport England.

Mr Walker said: "We have no problems whatsoever with other sporting clubs locating to the site.

"But from our perspective what we want is a social club, which every club in our league has got, so we can guarantee some income and safeguard the future of the club.

"There is a need for facilities for all sports in Calne, but from our point of view we have nine teams playing on two pitches."

Meanwhile, Mr Trotman has written to everyone involved suggesting they take stock of the finances available.

"All is not lost," he said. "We are looking into the possibility of involving other sports groups on that site, rather than just having a large football pitch, which was necessary for the grant from the Football Foundation."

There were also plans to mark out the site of the medieval village on the land, where the remains of a manor house and church have been identified.

Coun Trotman said the extension of ancient earthworks into the site means plans may have to be scaled down, but the council is still negotiating with English Heritage about what is required to protect the site.

Calne town clerk Ann Kingdon said: "At the moment the project has been halted in order to gather information.

"Once we have more information from other sports groups in the town we will make a report to the planning and economic regeneration committee who will make recommendations to the town council."