CHIPPENHAM Town have put plans for a new £300,000 clubhouse at its Hardenhuish Park ground on hold for at least a year.

Chairman Malcolm Lyus said, having spent £50,000 getting the ground up to standard for promotion to the Dr Martens Premier Division, more money is not available.

He also said the club hopes to gain promotion again next year.

"At the moment the ground is not good enough for the Conference, and that's where we want to be," said Lyus. "If we were to build a clubhouse next to Hardenhuish Park it would be like saying we are satisfied with Dr Martens Premier Division football, and do not want to get higher."

He said the club's executive committee has funded the ground improvements. "We asked people to come forward and help out, but no one has come forward," added Lyus. "We do not have a bottomless pit, and have put the clubhouse plans on hold. I would have thought it would not be built in the next year."

Manager Tommy Saunders has brought in nine new players over the summer.

"We have spent a lot on the team, and it's about time things off the pitch caught up," added Mr Lyus.

He said new vice-chairman Wayne Devine would be giving advice on what to do next with the ground.

"We really have to look at all our options," said Lyus. "I have said I have a five-year plan to get in to the Conference, and I still have that plan, but the ground has to match up."

He said the club is also hoping to be recognised as a limited company by the FA, which would help safeguard the financial risks of the clubhouse plan.

He said for the Conference the ground needed access from all four sides, as well as a 6,500 capacity at the moment it is 4,000-capacity.

The club was granted planning permission for the new clubhouse by North Wiltshire District Council last October.

It will be 115ft long by 65ft wide with a bar equipped to handle up to 700 people, a crche for parents to leave children in during the game, and a function room to be hired for corporate functions and by local community groups.

The plans were announced last April, and Lyus said then he hoped the clubhouse could be built by Christmas.

Supporters' club chairman Will Hulbert said fans would be disappointed the clubhouse is not going ahead. "It is disappointing, particularly because of all the added enjoyment a clubhouse would bring for fans," said Hulbert.

He said he understood the club's reasons for not progressing with it. "People's disappointment should be tempered by the club's ambition, and there's no point in spending a quarter of a million pounds on a new clubhouse, only to then move on," said Mr Hulbert.

His view is shared by Vic Swanborough, who helps organise a lottery to raise cash. "The clubhouse is not right, and can only hold 150 people, we do need a new one," he said.