A rare opportunity to buy two acres of land for the community is being grasped by Sutton-in-Craven Parish Council.

The land off Holme Lane, known as Alvic Field, has a guide price of £10,000 and is due to be sold at auction in Leeds next month.

Following a special meeting of the council on Monday, attended by more than 30 residents, the council is to put in an offer.

Craven councillor Ken Hart said the council had decided to go ahead following the approval of the majority of residents.

He said an offer would be submitted by council chairman Neil Whitaker this week, before the auction on February 5.

“Of the 30 or 40 people who attended the meeting, with the exception of two, they backed the parish council and an attempt to purchase the land,” he said.

Coun Hart, Craven District Council’s Sutton ward representative, said if the council was successful in its bid to buy the field it would consult on how to use it.

“At the last count there were at least 30 people wanting allotments. We could use some of it for that and people generally wanted us to tidy it up,” he said.

The land, owned by Britannia Developments, was once the subject of a housing application refused by Craven District Council and again on appeal.

It was classed as a “green wedge”.

Coun Whitaker said it would be an ideal opportunity for the village to solve some of its problems.

Fellow Sutton councillor Coun Stephen Place said it was a rare opportunity that needed to be grasped by the parish.

He said: “This is an opportunity for Sutton to get hold of a piece of land and make it something special.

“We need to look at it because it is an opportunity that won’t come up again.”

He added that it needed some work but that with a small amount of effort and limited annual maintenance it could be a bonus for the village.

“It is an eyesore at the moment. The owners have let it go to rack and ruin.

“There is a rickety wooden fence and an earth bund that was put up some years ago to stop new age travellers from getting on and which has now self-seeded.”

Coun Hart said the council hoped residents keen to see the field kept for the village would pledge donations – however big or small.

Anyone willing to make a donation should contact the clerk, Denise Emmott, on 01535 633972 or any parish councillor.