Pals' paintball plan

Two former schoolfriends have set their sights on creating a giant £50,000 indoor paintball battle zone after unveiling ambitious plans to convert a Black Country warehouse.

Business partners Nick Rogers and Stuart Hill have lodged a scheme to turn a 13,000sq ft unit at the Cannon Business Park, Gough Road, Coseley, into a themed venue for paintballers.

Fitness instructor Nick and RAF fireman Stuart, both aged 27, went to the Thorns Community College, Quarry Bank, together and are hoping their paintball scheme hits the target with planners.

Lye resident Nick said: "We've got two inside arenas planned. One is going to be a concept field where a certain scenario will be set up for role plays with missions to solve. There will be movable obstacles like a bridge, a fort and a couple of cars and we'll change the layout about once a month to keep things fresh and exciting.

"The other arena will be a speedball field like the professional paintballers play, using a different set of obstacles and where the objective is to annihilate the other team."

With his military background, Stuart will be in charge of creating realistic missions for teams to tackle, while Nick will look after the day-to-day running of the venue.

The plans, submitted on January 29, also include a waiting area with refreshments and games machines. If the proposals get the go-ahead, the facility could be up and running by April.

Nick said the desire to run a business together had been an idea the friends had harboured for some time.

"A lot of our friends from school have said they will muck in and give us a hand as well," he said.

"There is also a karting track right behind us at the business park so a lot of our target market is already visiting the site," he added.

By Mark Walsh