HIGH-flying Eastleigh Football Club last night took a massive step towards developing a "stadium of dreams" at their Ten Acres ground in Stoneham Lane and bringing Conference football to the town within the next few years.

The Dr Martens League outfit triumphed where Premier League Saints failed by getting civic chiefs to allow them to build in the sensitive strategic gap between Eastleigh and Southampton.

Members of the borough council's Eastleigh Local Area Committee unanimously backed a £225,000 scheme to build a brand new 378-seater grandstand with dressing rooms, showers and toilets, referees' rooms, a treatment room, directors' room and a burger service area.

But full planning consent will only be rubber-stamped when the club has provided a satisfactory transport assessment, submitted amended plans showing the provision of disabled parking spaces, cycle storage and motorcycle parking, plus a satisfactory landscaping scheme.

Business development officer at the football club Paul Murray told councillors the plans represented a "significant step" in the development of the club.

He said: "The football side has been coming on in leaps and bounds in recent seasons and if current form continues we will be promoted to the Dr Martens Premier division.

"It is our vision that within five to seven years we hope to become a Conference club which will be a significant boost to Eastleigh Football Club and the borough of Eastleigh."

But he said promotion to higher leagues meant the club had to upgrade its facilities - some of which were "less than perfect."

Backing the scheme, Eastleigh mayor Councillor Glynn Davies-Dear said: "I welcome this application as, indeed, anybody must who has Eastleigh's interest at heart.

"This is a development for the football club that is very necessary - one might say it is vital. Without it the club might be in trouble.

Councillor Peter Luffman said he thought the current application was far superior to previous redevelopment plans submitted in 2001 which crumbled after being "called in" by the government.

After the meeting Mr Murray told the Daily Echo: "This is fantastic, brilliant and absolutely what we were looking for."

He also confirmed the club was seeking £150,000 from the Football Foundation's Football Stadia Improvement Fund to back the grandstand project.