CHIPPENHAM Town look set to stay at Hardenhuish Park even if their dream of Nationwide Conference football becomes a reality.

Dr Martens League grading committee chairman Barry Hughes visited the ground on Monday to assess the work required to bring it up to Conference standard.

The club will receive a report on his findings next week and club chairman Malcolm Lyus, who has previously mooted a possible move to a new stadium on the outskirts of the town, now believes it is essential to stay put for as long as is feasibly possible. Said Lyus: "The grading committee will send us a report to say, one, whether it is feasible to play Conference football at Hardenhuish Park and, two, what it will take.

"We will be staying there at all costs. We are spending £400,000 on a new clubhouse for a start, and don't want to move away if we can help it.

"Also, if you move away from the town the support is never the same, as the rugby club are finding out."

Chippenham are currently riding high in their first ever season at Southern League level and sit in second place with a game in hand on league leaders Clevedon Town.

The objective at the start of the season was consolidation, but Lyus said Hardenhuish Park will be fit for the Dr Martens League Premier Division by the start of next term.

He said: "They are talking about enclosing both ends, providing five disabled places and toilets. We know we've got to fill in one of the grass areas and will sit down once he's given us everything we have to do.

"We can get grants of up to 65 per cent of the cost. We think it will probably cost us around £50,000 personally and that's got to be done. We're going to do it whether we go up or not."

Chippenham continued to lay the foundations for their push up the national league pyramid with the announcement that they are to become a limited company by the turn of the year.

The executive committee voted unanimously in favour of the move at an emergency general meeting last Thursday. Said Lyus: "We had a 100 per cent vote. The next step is we send off to the FA and they look at our accounts for the last three years. Hopefully they'll sanction it and it's full steam ahead.

"Their criteria is financial stability, that's all they're looking for. We have already been through this process to actually get into the league, so it should be a formality.

"It will mean stability for the future for the club. At the moment it hangs on four or five people's shoulders. Were any of those to walk away then obviously the future is isn't secure. Hopefully this will set the club up for the next 60 or 70 years."

But, unlike neighbours Devizes Town, the club have no plans to make shares available to supporters.

Said Lyus: "The problem with selling shares to fans is you dilute it. At the time of the Bath saga, when I looked at that the shares were so diluted you couldn't make a decision.

"You need 76 per cent of the votes. Short term that's not a problem. But if you go 20 years down the line and people have died and shares have disappeared, you can't get a decision.

"We have talked about it and initially 100 shares will be shared between the six directors.

"If you divide 100 by six, there are four left over. What we are hoping is later on we can make use of those four shares, not to individuals, but to maybe the Supporters' Club or sponsors."