Plans to build a community and sports hall complex may go ahead despite the failure of a bid for 1m of Lottery cash.

Didcot Town Council and South Oxfordshire District Council are under heavy pressure to provide greater sports and community amenities for the fast-growing town, especially on new housing estates at Ladygrove.

Volunteers from the Prince's Trust recently stepped in to repair and renovate Ladygrove Pre-School, which is housed in a "temporary" former contractors' hut.

The playgroup had by now expected to move to the new community and sports complex planned nearby on land owned by Didcot Town football club.

But hopes of parents and staff were dashed when the the Sport England Lottery Fund rejected a joint application by the town council, the district council and the club in October for half the 2m cost. Mike McNulty, leader of the town council and the Labour group on the district council, said he hoped they had now found a formula to fund the capital cost of the building but not open-air sports pitches without Lottery funding.

The total cost of the community and sports hall building was estimated at 1.4m. So the town council was now applying for a 400,000 grant from the district council's community trust fund to provide the balance.

If the application to the district council was successful, Mr McNulty said they hoped work could start on the building by the end of the year. He said: "We cannot afford further delays. Community facilities at Ladygrove are woefully inadequate. Existing facilities are overstretched. "The new plan is to build the community and sports hall as soon as possible, without Lottery funding."