New football pitches are in place and due to open by the summer at the site of a former sports club which has not been used for 10 years.

The new pitches have been installed at the site of the Fleet Leisure and Sports Club, in Northfleet.

Cllr Shane Mochrie-Cox, Gravesham council's cabinet member for community and leisure, is delighted after delays for the past decade led residents to believe the site would eventually be turned into housing rather than the promised new sports facility.

He said: "For those who said it would be housing here is proof it is not.

"I am delighted to see the progress as promised on the new Fleet Leisure/Bowaters site, delivering a brand new sports and leisure facility for residents in the heart of Northfleet and Coldharbour."

Bulldozers finally arrived on the derelict land last year to start the transformation into the planned new leisure complex and phase one is now almost complete.

Cllr Mochrie-Cox said: "Once the pitches are complete it is going to be open. The clubhouse will take another eight or nine months but we want it open as soon as possible."

And he was keen to dispel any myths the grounds were only going to be available to Ebbsfleet Football Academy.

"They will be able to use it, but so will all the other clubs and groups in the area. This only works if those gates are open and everyone can use the facilities."

He added: "I have re-checked the lease agreement and business plan. There will be local school use, after-school community use and public and local club use including at weekends, after school, after work and evenings and some during the day as well as use for the academy.

"It will be mixed/shared use and this is what has been legally written into the lease. Frankly I and the council wouldn’t have signed off on a lease that gave exclusive use to anyone.

"It will be a great community sport and leisure facility for the community and having long campaigned for this I am delighted to see phase one when the pitches will be opened near completion."

Formerly known as Bowaters, the new centre will be run by EUFC Elite Limited, which is co-run by Ebbsfleet United striker Danny Kedwell.

Once complete it will include a range of 3G artificial pitches, grass pitches, a small gym, a new clubhouse with bar, social area and associated changing rooms.

The 11-acre site was a sports facility and clubhouse for 81 years and often hosted Sunday night variety shows and annual bonfire and firework nights as well as offering somewhere to practice football, cricket, hockey, bowls, table tennis, judo and badminton.

The site closed in 2013 and was sold at auction. Since then its future has been a hot topic of debate with any proposed plans failing to come to fruition.

In August 2017, the derelict clubhouse was engulfed in flames with at least 35 firefighters left to battle the blaze for at least three hours.

Nearby homes were evacuated as the smoke spread, which tragically killed a woman's young dog.

At the time of the fire the council was keen to reassure residents it would returned to its former glory rather than be converted into housing.

A spokesman for Gravesham council said: "The council is aware that there are rumours circulating that the site could be used for housing but wishes to emphasise that these are completely false and that there is cross-party agreement that the site must be returned to sporting and community use at the earliest possible opportunity."