A £7 MILLION sports complex is being planned to replace a doomed York club site, the Evening Press can reveal.

The Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC) has teamed up with Malton-based Harrison Developments to come up with the ambitious scheme for land behind the Ikon Diva night club at Clifton Moor.

It could prove a lifeline to hundreds of sportsmen and women who were set to lose out when the Civil Service Sports Club, in Boroughbridge Road, shuts in April because of growing financial problems.

A major house builder has signed an option agreement which gives them first refusal on buying the current site, which club members believe is worth up to £14 million.

The proposed 11-acre complex was at one stage looked at as a potential replacement for Bootham Crescent by York City chairman John Batchelor.

The complex would include:

- 12 all-weather five-a-side football pitches and two full-size pitches

- Swimming pool and gymnasium

- Four tennis courts and squash courts

- Cricket square

The Clifton Moor plan does not depend on the redevelopment of the Boroughbridge Road site. Ray Haskell, CSSC estate manager, said the site would be offered to schools free of charge during off-peak hours.

"There have been various rumours about us pulling out of York," he said. "But we've spent more than two years trying to come up with an alternative site. This is ideal."

Civil Service Sports Club secretary Tony Tate said he was "delighted" with the plan and urged City of York Council to grant planning permission.

Updated: 11:11 Saturday, January 18, 2003