Plans to relocate Kenilworth Rugby Club and create a new "new centre of rugby and community excellence" have taken a major step forward.

Bloor Homes is preparing to submit a planning application to Warwick District Council to redevelop the club's current Glasshouse Lane home into 220 homes.

Progress follows confirmation that the necessary rights over Network Rail land will revert to the rugby club following the acquisition of the new site off Warwick Road.

Bloor, which was nominated as the preferred partner in October 2021, is providing upfront funding to complete the necessary agreements with Network Rail.

The developer has already launched a public survey over the scheme which could see houses built on two pieces of land on Glasshouse Lane.

KRFC chairman, Johnny Marsh, said: "Kenilworth Rugby Football Club and our consultants have been working hard together with Bloor Homes to secure the necessary upfront finance that we needed to be in a position to release their land for housing development.

"We can now look forward to continuing working closely with Bloor Homes and Warwick District Council over the next two years to ensure the provision of what we believe will be the best junior rugby club facility in the whole of Warwickshire."

WDC has also already approved plans for the rugby club to build a new ground on the other side of town.

The club's new home will feature five full size rugby pitches - two floodlit - as well as a 3G pitch that will be made available to the local community. It will also boast a two-storey clubhouse with changing rooms, a conditioning gym, clubroom, function room and meeting spaces.

The club hopes the new complex will be ready for the start of the 2025/26 season and that with the continued support of Bloor Homes that the new target date can be achieved.