Saved: key athletics stadium for 2012 legacy

A £1.2MILLION refurbishment has been agreed for a crumbling athletics stadium, in a major boost for the capital's commitment to sport after 2012.

The Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Enfield is to be given a new lease of life, following a campaign by residents, local clubs and the Evening Standard.

Last month the Standard launched a drive to press ministers and councils to improve public sports facilities and ensure a lasting Olympics legacy.

The campaign has been backed by Olympic stars and 2012 chief Lord Coe, who once competed in events at Queen Elizabeth Stadium alongside his great rival Steve Ovett.

The venue in Carterhatch Lane, inaugurated in 1953 coronation year was in such a poor state it was closed on safety grounds in May. It has become a magnet for fly-tippers, and is covered in weeds and piles of waste.Schools have had to cancel their sports days or transport pupils five miles to Lea Valley Stadium.

Now, after pressure from clubs and Enfield North MP Joan Ryan, the council has announced a deal with Enfield Town football club, which will see the club using the stadium.

The running track and art deco-style clubhouse which is Grade II-listed will be renovated. Work is expected to be completed by 2010. A spokeswoman for Enfield council said: "After considerable public consultation and meeting with the various sports clubs interested in what we can do with the stadium, the cabinet decided to spend £1.2million bringing it up to standard.

"That means we will re-do the running track and the grass area for Enfield Town FC. The stadium building, which has a beautiful curved staircase and original interior tiling, will be brought up to modern standards with really nice changing rooms, showers and physio rooms and a social area upstairs. It has real potential. Schools and all kinds of sporting organisations will be able to use the stadium, so it's a good investment for local, national and international sports training. It's a happy outcome."

Enfield Town play in the Ryman Football League Division One North. Club chairman Paul Millington said the decision by the council was "momentous".

He added: "It's fantastic news that we will have a stadium of our own from 2010 that will be the base for all sections of the club and a focus for the community as a whole.'' Ms Ryan backed the Standard's campaign, saying the stadium closure sent out the wrong message about Enfield's commitment to 2012.

Today she said the refurbishment would benefit residents, adding: "The council must honour its commitment to preserve and maintain an athletics track at QEII." Ray Gibbins, secretary of the Enfield and Haringey Athletics Club, which moved from the stadium to Lea Valley last year, said young people had been losing interest in sport because there were no longer any local facilities.However, some clubs are cautious about the venue plan, fearing athletics could be treated as the poor relation. Enfield Town's original proposal had been to replace the track with five-a-side pitches. Richard Gillman, commercial and marketing manager of rival club Enfield (1893) FC, which was part of a consortium that made a failed bid for the site, questioned whether the winning proposal would be financially viable.

Enfield Town was set up in 2001 after a "supporters' revolution" at Enfield FC. They currently play at Goldsdown Road in the east of the borough.