A DIDCOT sports association hopes Olympic fever will inspire its sportsmen and women to make the best use of its new £4m sporting facilities.

Boundary Park Sports Association is set to take over the lease of both the sports pavilion and pitches at the town's new Great Western Park estate.

That includes four full size rugby and cricket pitches, four tennis courts and six football pitches.

Association chairman Paul Costello said it was a "golden opportunity" to tap into Olympic fever.

He went on: "Having watched the Olympics over the past few weeks, the timing could not be better for us to take on this responsibility.

"For years Didcot’s sporting facilities have not been up to scratch which has seen us lose great sportsmen and women to Harwell and other villages.

"We want them to come back to the town and enjoy these great facilities.

"Who knows – we could see one of our own represent us at the next games in 2020."

The association, made up of Didcot Cricket Club, Didcot Rugby Club and Harwell and Hendred Youth Football Club, hopes that by having control of the facilities it will be able to focus on what the community really needs.

It has signed a lease for more than 30 years, taking responsibility from Vale of White Horse District Council to run and manage the facilities.

Mr Costello added: "There are so many benefits of having an association dedicated to sports running these facilities than a council who has so many other priorities.

"We will be able to see what the community needs and wants from these facilities.

"For instance before we struggled to run a ladies’ cricket team because we only had one pitch.

"Now we have two, so we can be a lot more accommodating and inclusive and get as many people involved in sport as possible."

The funding for the building and pitches came from Taylor Wimpey, which is developing Great Western Park.

The pavilion was built by Claude Fenton Construction Limited, which is based in Theale, West Berkshire.

Mr Costello said: "We want this to be the heart of the community – not just for Great Western Park residents but for the whole town.

"We want these facilities to be the tools that show how great our local talent is."

Vale cabinet member for regeneration Mike Murray said: "This is a good example of how we work with developers to make places like Great Western Park more than just a collection of houses.

"Communities need to be built from the ground up, which is why we want residents to run their own facilities like the sports pavilion and pitches."

It is expected that next month there will be an official opening of the pavilion with Wantage MP Ed Vaizey cutting the ribbon.