PLANS for a new football stadium won a crucial victory tonight after council bosses agreed to a £1million cash injection for the project.

PLANS for a new football stadium won a crucial victory last night after council bosses agreed to a £1million cash injection for the project.

St Edmundsbury Borough Council's cabinet voted to back proposals to invest in Bury Town Football Club's dream of creating a new and larger home - a 5,000 capacity stadium at Bury's Moreton Hall estate.

The decision is a huge boost for the scheme, which will now go before a meeting of the whole council to see if it will be given the go ahead.

Bury Town, which enjoyed its best FA Cup run in 40 years by reaching the first round proper this year, is looking to move from its current home at Ram Meadow to a new 11-acre base near the Flying Fortress pub at the eastern end of Moreton Hall.

The cabinet support is not the final hurdle but team club chairman Russell Ward said he was confident they would be able to find the other half of the money - with the rest of the £2m coming from the Football Foundation and other sources.

He said: “This is the first and biggest step. But there is a lot of work to do - we need another million from elsewhere but we are confident we can do it.

“Then we need to win over the doubters - we have to prove we can be good neighbours and integrate with the community, after that it is all systems go.”

Mr Ward said the club would be looking to complete the dream move ideally in 18 months or in 32 months time, between seasons, if they clear the other hurdles.

He added: “The club is very grateful to the council for making this possible and we look forward to working with them over the coming months.”