London racecourse back on track

Others have been swifter from the stalls, but the much-delayed London City project is recovering lost ground in the race to provide British racing with another allweather venue.

Plans for the Wiggins Group to build a multi-million pound facility at Fairlop Waters in Essex were dashed when John Prescott rejected a plea for planning permission last year, but confidence is growing that a revised scheme will finally get the go-ahead.

Presentations to Ken Livingstone and local councillors at the Town Hall in Ilford this week will pave the way for another planning application early next year, and Wiggins chief executive Geoff Lansbury today reported that his ambition is now to see racing begin at Fairlop in 2006. "The presentations have gone very well and we still have great belief in this project both from the point of view of what it will do for British racing and the local community," he said.

Plans to accommodate 20,000 people at the proposed venue have been scaled down in favour of a grandstand which will hold 8,500 people, but Lansbury stressed that his ambition remains to attract big crowds for meetings with far more prize money than any other all-weather venue currently offers.

He added: "Fairlop has six million people living within a 25 mile radius and we want to provide that audience with a racecourse which will be recognised around the world.

"We're aiming to provide a minimum of £50,000 to £60,000 per day in prize money, and the great thing is that the optimism we have always had is now beginning to be shared by a lot of other people."