TALKS are underway to provide 7.5 acres of sports ground above the viaduct, specifically but not exclusively for football.

But even if that happens, the town will still be far short of the sports provision it actually should have for its population, according to the Ledbury Sports Federation.

With Bloor Homes planning to build 625 new houses above the viaduct, talks have been ongoing between bodies including a Sports Federation working party, Herefordshire Council, the town council, Sport England and the developer.

But nothing has been cast in stone as yet and, even if the new sports area is provided to the north of the viaduct, Ledbury will still be poorly served in the scale of its sports provision.

The Federation's outgoing chairman, Bob Barnes, who is also chairman of the town's finance and general purposes committee, said the national standard for a town of Ledbury's size, of more than 10,000 people, should be over 40 acres.

Cllr Barnes, who pointed out that the creation of the New Mills estate did not lead to the creation of any new sports areas, despite a rise in population, said: "We have a legacy of under provision.

"When you look at the population we have, we have less than 50 per cent of the grounds we should have."

And this is not taking into account the extra 1,800 homes likely to be built in the near future.

The national standard is for six acres of open space per 1,000 head of population, of which four acres should be for sports fields.

Currently, the total amount of sports-ground acreage in Ledbury is only around 23 acres.

And the federation's president, Ian Beer, in a letter to members, puts the shortfall at around 24 acres.

Mr Beer, who is also a former RFU president and England international, said he had heard from most of the sports clubs in Ledbury "and all want the Federation to continue".

And the battle for more areas for land will be ongoing.

Mr Beer said: "The work done by the working group set up by the Federation in January 2016 has been presented to the Town Council by Bob Barnes, who assures me that it has now been absorbed into the Neighbourhood Plan. The work was completed in conjunction with Ruth Jackson (Herefordshire Council) and Stephen Brewster (Sport England).

"Full facility requirements for soccer, rugby and cricket, supported by the relevant National Governing Bodies, demand in the region an extra 24 acres of land. Should such land become available it is hoped that there would be enough space for running facilities."

Mr Beer added: "The possible introduction of recreational space in the viaduct development has come about partly as a result of the working group's efforts. "Therefore, there is no work to be done immediately, but the federation will be active should Ledbury or Herefordshire Councils want more information from us, or we wish to present a case to them as a result of requests from other individual sports in Ledbury."

Mr Barnes said he will remain a member of the Sports Federation, after he formally stands down as chairman, at the next meeting.

Mr Beer has invited John Wilesmith, the head of operations at the Three Counties Showground and the former captain, secretary and chairman of Ledbury RFC to become the next chairman, and he has accepted.

Former town councillor Rob Yeoman stood down as secretary some months ago, and his place will be taken by Nick Fish, chairman of The Swifts.