By Jenny Barwise

Published at 11:22, Friday, 28 December 2012

WORKINGTON’S Derwent Park has moved a step closer to improving its stadium in time for next year’s Rugby League World Cup games.

Allerdale Council has granted planning permission to the club to build a new boundary fence and gates, replace its floodlights and scoreboards as well as “general refurbishment” of the stadium.

This comes two weeks after tickets for the eagerly anticipated 2013 cup games, which will be held at Workington, go on sale.

The club secured £350,000 funding from Britain’s Energy Coast for the transformation, and hired Workington contractors Stobbarts to carry out the facelift.

Work to replace seating in the grandstand, update floodlights and install an electronic scoreboard is expected to be finished before Town’s Championship season kicks off in February.

The pitch will also undergo major improvements as Town aim to ensure everything is perfect for Scotland’s match against Tonga.

Allerdale Council pledged to underwrite £50,000 for improvements to the stadium.

Hosting the World Cup games is predicted to inject £1m into the west Cumbrian economy and it is hoped that Scotland’s two games could open the doors for more high-profile international events.

Rugby league fans across the world will see Workington’s revamped stadium after World Cup organisers chose Allerdale to replace a bid by Copeland Council.

Tickets are on general sale for Scotland against Tonga on October 29 and Scotland v Italy on November 3. They start at £10 (£5 concessions) and are available at www.rlwc2013.com.

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk