The £2.3million Beversbrook Sports Facility in Calne has been presented with a coveted award at a ceremony in County Hall.

The 94 acre sports complex won the South West regional prize in the prestigious Market Town Awards and will now go head-to-head with projects from seven other regions in the national finals.

The award for outstanding market town project was presented to town clerk Linda Roberts and Beversbrook head groundsman Tim Parker by Action for Market Town board members, Peter Godfrey and Gordon Morris.

The project came about following surveys that showed the town was short of recreation land.

It was backed by the town council and now boasts facilities for several sports including football, cricket, boxing, table tennis, badminton, netball and archery.

Town clerk Linda Roberts said she was delighted with the award, which was presented by Action for Market Towns board members Peter Godfrey and Gordon Morris.

“We are thrilled to say the least,” she said. “It really is a community facility that the whole town should be proud of and it is also a real pat on the back to the town council who stuck with it to see it all become a reality, because it wasn’t easy at all.”

The whole process was realised with the purchase of the 94 acres of land, a successful bid to the Football Foundation for funding of £1million, £800,000 from the town council and £75,000 from the then North Wiltshire District Council.

The judges praised the project for combining community engagement and involvement with exceptional support from the town council.

The National Market Town Awards each year celebrate the variety of volunteer-led projects that are helping to regenerate and sustain small towns throughout the country.

The finals will be held at the Action for Market Towns Convention in Chippenham on October 12.

Mrs Roberts said: “The success of the project has gone beyond our wildest dreams.

“With The John Bentley School’s recent Ofsted report where they were reported as outstanding in certain sections, interestingly the award for Beversbrook was for an outstanding market town project, so Calne is outstanding in several ways.”

More information at www.beversbrooksportsfacility.co.uk