PLANS to build a pavilion for a rural village's bowling club have moved a step closer.

Crown green bowlers in Edgworth are now hoping planning chiefs at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council give the project the go-ahead at their next meeting -- due to be held later this month.

The proposals will mean that more than 50 members of the Edgworth Village Institute Bowling Club -- based at the Barlow Institute, in Bolton Road, will have on-site facilities for the first time since the club began in 1900.

Officials say the club is the only one in the league not to have a pavilion.

If councillors agree, the structure -- including a toilet and changing rooms -- will be built next to the organisation's bowling green.

The club has already applied for funding from a range of sources, including Lottery cash and Government funding.

Officials have now been given a boost after the proposals were agreed at a meeting of North Turton Parish Council.

The club was founded in 1900 and celebrated its centenary year in 2000. Members compete in the Turton League and the mixed-sex Ramsbottom League.