RELOCATING the running track at Huntington Stadium could cost at least half the predicted £500,000 suggested by the City of York Council.

Upgrading the current cinder track at the University of York and turning it into an all-weather facility has been put forward as a possible solution to the crisis.

Speaking at Tuesday night's meeting of the full council, council leader Steve Galloway said the local authority estimated relocating the Huntington track would cost around £500,000.

However, the Evening Press can reveal a synthetic track was recently built at Durham University, replacing an existing cinder track like that at York University, at a cost of well under £200,000.

Although the Durham facility only has four lanes and can therefore not be used for competition, it is said to be of the highest standard and used by some of the region's top athletes for training.

Furthermore, the facility, opened in November last year, has been modified so it can accommodate just about every track and field discipline.

One of the lanes at Durham has been extended to provide for the long jump and triple jump, while there is a tarmac D for shot-putters and high-jumpers.

There is also a track surface to provide a run-up for the javelin meaning the only disciplines the facility cannot currently play host to is the hammer and pole vault.

Even that could soon change, with the university currently bidding for funding so it can provide a hammer-cage at a cost of around £5,000.

Peter Warburton, director of sport at Durham University, confirmed the price of installing a four-lane track had cost around £170,000 plus VAT.

He said, as a rough estimate, adding an extra two lanes would have cost around £30,000 per lane meaning even a six-lane track would have cost less than £250,000. The fact the Durham University site already had its own changing rooms helped to keep the cost of the upgrade down.

York University also has its own changing rooms, which could help peg back the costs of relocating the Huntington track to the Heslington-based campus.

Warburton said housing the track at the university in Durham was proving of great benefit to home-grown athletes and students.

Early estimates from the football club put the bill at relocating the athletics facilities to the university at less than £140,000 - some £360,000 less than the council's predicted bill.

Updated: 11:13 Thursday, July 10, 2003