Work to deal with the drainage problems that regularly make a playing field on the outskirts of Preston a no-go zone has been given the go-ahead.

Parts of the King George V Playing Field in Broughton are often left unusable in the wake of wet weather.

Preston City Council planners have now approved a revamp of the Garstang Road green space, which will not only reduce the routine flooding that occurs, but also deliver a raft of other improvements.

Those upgrades include the extension of the site’s car park and the upgrading – and relocation – of its children’s playground. New footpaths, lighting and CCTV are also set to be installed, along with additional landscaping features.

The project - which the Lancashire Post understands is expected to get under way early next year - is being undertaken by the city council itself, which had to apply to its own independent planning department for permission to carry out the works. Funding for the scheme is being provided by Broughton Parish Council.

The city authority has previously said that the overhaul aims to address a range of issues that have caused “frustration” amongst local residents at not being able to access the facilities “comfortably and regularly”.

A draft policy in the Broughton-in-Amounderness Neighbourhood Plan described the playing field as “an underused resource”, because of how readily it floods.

“It is an attractive green space on a dry sunny day, but with little other than a large expanse of grass, it becomes a wet, bleak and uninviting space in other seasons and weathers,” the document states.

“The playing fields do not have particularly good pedestrian access for residents, this being restricted to two entrance points on Garstang Road away from the main concentrations of housing.

“The small parking area on the Garstang Road frontage, the only public facility within the village, is too small to accommodate the demand for parking,” it adds.

A local youth team uses the football pitch when it can, while buildings on the site act as changing rooms and are the base for a pre-school and guides group.

The main source of flooding comes from surface water, the planning application stated. Although the majority of the location is judged to be “at very low risk”, there is a known problem affecting the south of the plot.

It is thought to be connected to a “depression” in the land at that point and a culverted watercourse, which appears to have “a lack of capacity” that leads to the “ponding” of surface water on the grass above it.