Mendip District Council has said it is looking forward to working with the Friends of Tor Sports and Leisure to protect the Benedict Street field site from development.

The council has commented after giving backing to the group in its fight to get the site listed as Fields in Trust status.

A spokesperson for Mendip District Council said: "The council would fully support the withdrawal of the Town Green application at Benedict Street Field, Glastonbury, to enable the open green space to be dedicated as Fields in Trust in perpetuity.

"Mendip has been working with a number of partners within the community, including Glastonbury Town Council and the Friends of Tor Leisure, over a number of years, to seek an alternative solution which would protect this open green space.

"Mendip District Council and Fusion Lifestyle are keen to complete a Deed of Dedication with Fields in Trust to protect the green space at Tor Sport and Leisure.

"The benefits of the Field in Trust status is that a significantly larger area of green space than the Town Green application site would be protected.

"Also, if the green open space is protected with a Fields in Trust dedication, it would mean leisure, recreation and especially sports uses on the site are protected for future generations."

Although not a household name, Fields in Trust is an organisation that protects nearly 3,000 open spaces in the UK.

Locally, they already protect many local parks including the Windmill Hill Play Area in Glastonbury and the Mary Bailey Playing Field in Frome.

Protection by Fields in Trust ensures that the site can only be used for recreational and leisure purposes, and will also mean that investment can be made into the site - investment that would not have been possible if the site were registered as a "Village Green".

To this end, the Friends of Tor Leisure have recently requested that Somerset County Council withdraw the Village Green application that was submitted in June 2013 as an interim protection measure against the threat of development earlier that year.

The withdrawal of the Village Green application will allow the open spaces to be protected by Fields in Trust, and for investment to start to flow into the site, securing their future as a place for recreation and leisure for future generations.

A spokesperson for The Friends of Tor Leisure said: "Eight years ago Glastonbury said a resounding no to turning Tor Leisure into a housing estate.

"You have to remember, we'd only just lost the Fair Field a few years before - so we were united that we had to save this one.

"In the beginning we were opposed by both the town and district councils but thankfully the tide eventually turned, and the current and previous town councils have been invaluable supporters in the fight to save Tor Leisure.

"And even the current Mendip District Council have finally come on board. Without their help, we just wouldn't be where we are today."