DUDLEY Town Football Club is set to net a new home at The Dell Stadium from next season.

Talks between the club on moving to the Bryce Road site in time for the next season, which kicks off in August, are believed to be at an advanced stage.

The stadium is currently vacant on Saturday afternoons and the facilities match up to the requirements of the West Midlands Premier Division, which Dudley play in.

The club has been directly involved in the longer term Dudley Sports Village Project and has approached council chiefs about an interim move to The Dell.

Neville Jeynes, chairman and president of Dudley Town Football Club, said: "I welcome the positive response from the council and I look forward to a long lasting partnership between the two organisations."

Dudley Town is also looking to bid for funds to support any developments which may be needed at The Dell in the future.

Councillor Charles Fraser-Macnamara, Dudley Council's cabinet member for leisure and culture, said: "The Dell is an excellent sports facility and I'm delighted that Dudley Town Football Club look set to make it their home.

"This is fantastic news for both the council and the club and we hope the team will go on to have plenty of success on the field."

Last September Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors pushed politics to one side and all gave their support for a modern, state-of-the-art centre for sport in Dudley.

The borough has been starved of a major sports stadia ever since the old Dudley Town Football Club and County Cricket Ground site - now Castlegate - was closed after a mine shaft collapse in 1985.