Near-bankrupt Thame United are desperate to sell their Windmill Road ground for housing and build new premises elsewhere.

If they succeed in the bid for a new ground, the club will have a new stadium, a main pitch, two practice pitches, an all-weather area and built-in community facilities.

Club agent Gerald Knight said United - which plays in the Ryman Division One - was almost bankrupt. The ground has a capacity of about 1,000 but on average, only 300 spectators turn out. If it goes into receivership, the ground will be sold and houses built on the site.

But Mr Knight said that if plans for a new stadium at Lord Williams's Upper School in Oxford Road are supported, everyone in Thame will benefit.

Ten years ago, the club sold its practice pitch for housing for £1m to fund developments in Windmill Road. But now the club is in dire straits again and needs space for a new practice pitch.

Mr Knight told the town council planning committee: "The financial plight of the club has clearly been the result of their own doing and I am not expecting sympathy from the town council."

But, he said, the proposed development would help everyone in the town.

A planning application is to be lodged soon with South Oxfordshire District Council.