HIGHWORTH Junior Football Club's eight-year dream of a pavilion finally got under way yesterday.

Highworth Town Council member Maureen Dilley and football club chairman Bernard Berry got the building work underway with the ceremonial first dig.

The project, costing more than £500,000, is thanks largely to a £478,000 grant from the Football Foundation and is expected to be finished by the end of January next year.

Builders Andrew Cooper, of Cooper Construction Witney, are in charge of the project which will be supervised by Richard Pointing, an incorporated architectural technologist from Poulton.

The new pavilion will have six changing rooms, a lounge and a kitchen and store rooms and will be fully self contained.

Mr Berry said: "This is a major achievement for Highworth football and we look forward to having a facility that boys and girls can use for many years to come.''