A sports pavilion on a school site could be enhanced to meet the needs of a football club which has seen a surge in demand.

Hythe & Dibden Youth Football Club said the existing facilities at Applemore College had played a “crucial part” in increased participation numbers.

Over the past four years, membership has grown from 400 to 580 young people, including 160 girls.

Applemore College has submitted an application to New Forest District Council to make improvements to the pavilion.

A statement from the football club’s chairman and vice-chairman submitted as part of the plans said: “It’s essential to improve the facilities in order to maintain both the current membership and to accommodate the projected growth of around 850 members in the next five years.

“The under 18 teams requires changing rooms which cannot currently be offered.

“As well as youth football, the football club are assisting with the development of recreational adult male and female football, which require home and away changing rooms.”

The current set up, which involves three shipping containers arranged in a ‘U’ shape, received temporary planning permission for five years in 2019.

A design and access statement submitted with the new proposals said this had been a successful trial period, with the intention always being to follow this up with a permanent scheme.

The proposed changes include adding a pitched roof over the existing footprint of the on-site containers.

This would create a central storage area with roller shutter doors.

There would also be an additional storage area to the side of the containers and the inclusion of a small storage room.

The football club’s statement said kit storage was currently “very hard” to manage, with some equipment having to be stored off-site in Hythe and transported back and forth when needed by volunteers.

The application for the secondary school site is currently being considered by council planning officers.

A public consultation on the proposal closes on January 10.