PITCHES at King George V Playing Fields are to get a new lease of life after sharing in a £200,000 investment in grassroot sports facilities.

Cheshire East Council has bought a fleet of modern maintenance machinery, including tractors, to improve the quality of the borough's sports pitches.

It says amateur footballers can look forward to improved surfaces and better drainage, while a new robotic line marker should help remove disputes about penalty decisions.

The government's Football Foundation has injected £100,000 into the project to match the council's funding and there is also support from the Premier League and the FA.

Staff at Ansa, Cheshire East's environment company, are applying a new bespoke maintenance programme.

As well as the George's in Crewe, other playing fields benefitting from the new maintenance programme include Back Lane in Congleton and Sutton Lane in Middlewich.

Cllr Mick Warren, Cheshire East Council chair of environment and communities, said: "Improving the quality and durability of our sports pitches is overdue and we hope that by offering better maintenance and a higher standard of facilities, this will encourage more people to take up sport and lead active lives."

The pitches at the George's are well used by among others Sunday League football teams, junior clubs as well as the town's American football club, the Crewe Railroaders.