RUGBY players could be playing on a new ground before the end of next year.

Trowbridge Rugby Football Club has submitted a joint planning application with developers Caldecotte Consultants to build new grounds on the outskirts of Hilperton, off the A361 opposite Paxcroft Farm.

Club spokesman Mike James said: "We have long outgrown our current facilities and had we not identified a new ground there was a real risk some of the junior sections would fall by the wayside due to lack of sufficient playing and training areas.

"We are very excited about this new venture and, assuming everything goes ahead as planned, would be very interested in talking with other sports organisations in Trowbridge about sharing the new facility."

The rugby club was founded in 1931 and moved to its current home in Green Lane in 1962.

Over the past 40 years the grounds have become almost surrounded by housing and there is no longer enough space to accommodate the three men's teams, the ladies under-17s and over 250 youngsters who play for the junior teams.

The £3m new facility would feature all-weather floodlit training areas, a gym, a physiotherapy room and four pitches, one to county standard. The proposal also includes plans for 74 homes at Green Lane.

Mark Hill of Caldecotte Consultants said: "A great deal of effort has been put in to finding a suitable location and we believe that the opportunity at Hilperton represents the only site in the greater Trowbridge area that could meet the existing and future needs of the rugby club, planners and the highway authority."