A charity which runs carriage driving for the disabled wants to build an indoor school to allow it to operate all year round.

Woodchurch Carriage Driving Group, part of the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA), has put in a planning application for a 50m by 20m indoor arena at Stone Circle Livery, Woodchurch, where it is based.

If successful, the £80,000 building would be funded by private donations and would hopefully be up by next winter.

The group was saved from folding in 2011 and is now thriving, with more than 50 people attending.

Susi Anderson, the manager at Stone Circle, said: “Our biggest issue has been the weather.

"During the winter, we have had to stop group activities as the weather is so unpredictable.

“This is a great shame as disabled people get immense benefits from carriage driving.

"Our planning application for an indoor arena addresses this issue and will enable the group to operate all year round.”

Jean Boorman, a volunteer with the group, said: “The addition of an indoor arena would be a fantastic asset as it would mean we could function all year round.

“At the moment, we are restricted to holding our driving sessions when the weather permits, and then only between April and October.”

Mrs Anderson said that the indoor arena would have a small viewing gallery at one end. The planning bid also includes a retrospective application for a new access to the yard off Redbrook Street.

In 2012, Mrs Anderson was named as most dedicated volunteer in the South East at the national RDA awards, and the group also won the national Buchan Bobby Award for group achievement.