A Stafford primary school’s waterlogged old playing field has been replaced by a state-of-the-art all-weather sports pitch.

The £40,000 fenced pitch at Castle Church Primary School in Tennyson Road, Highfields, will be opened by the Mayor of Stafford, Councillor Mike Shone on January 23 at 2.45pm.

Also attending the ceremony will be players from Aston Villa. The school has developed strong links with the Premiership club through coach Paul Plant who runs football training at the school.

Three Castle Church pupils are in Villa’s academy. Headteacher Gill Hampton said that the pitch, which had an artificial carpeting surface, would be used for a range of ball and team games by the school and would also be rented out for use by the wider community.

“We have already had quite a lot of interest from local groups who would like to use it for six-a-side football,” she said.

Mrs Hampton said that the playing field had been waterlogged for as much as nine to 10 months of the year.

“The company that has done the work to put in the new pitch said they had never had to put one in on such a difficult surface before.

“We had to do something to give the children space to do PE,” she added.

Mrs Hampton said the provision of the pitch was part of the Extended School programme they offered.

The school offers before and after-school care and extra-curricular clubs.