Helston Town Council has thrown its support behind the town's football club as the team prepares to play at the highest level it has ever reached.

The mayor, Councillor Mike Thomas has given Helston Athletic a £3,000 grant from the Mayor's Frund as the team prepares its Kellaway Park ground ahead of its first season in the South West Peninsula League Premier.

The club has already installed floodlighting and perimeter fencing as well as upgrading its pitch perimeter barrier, and will have a 100 seater grandstand and new dug-outs in place by the end of the month, allowing it to meet the league's ground regulations.

Club chairman Paul Hendy, who received the cheque from Councillor Thomas, in the company of previous mayors Jonathan Radford-Gaby and John Boase, said: "We have been aspiring to [ground improvements] as a bit of a dream for several years."

"We are extremely grateful. We have raised money, we have had money from the FA and we still had a gap to close. That £3,000was really gratefully accepted."

The total cost of improvements will be in the region of £100,000, and the club received more than £60,000 of funding from the Premier League, with £10,000 from the football trust and another £10,000 raised by the club's own fundraising efforts.

With assistance from other organisations, Helston Athletic is now very close to its fundraising goal.

Paul claimed that the club sees the promotion and upgrade as a positive thing for Helston, bringing travelling supporters from as far away as north Devon, perhaps staying overnight, and he hopes that advertisers at the ground will see increased footfall as a result.

For now, the team is looking to the season ahead, with its first home game on July 25, and first game in the new league on August 8.

On September 1 the club will expect a large crowd for its first game under the new floodlights, when Kellaway Park will play host to defending champions St Austell who will be fielding former Helston players Liam Eddy and Charlie Young.