The Grahame Park estate in Colindale could end up with more sporting facilities than it can handle, following months of delays, squabbling and negotiations.

Barnet College is planning to build an all-weather pitch on land owned by nearby St James Catholic High School in Great Strand, while Pinnacle Education Sports Trust (PEST) is ready to bring in the diggers on the Open Space off Lanacre Avenue for another pitch to be built by the summer.

The offer of St James' land gives Barnet College a way round a seven-year-old legal agreement to provide sports facilities on the estate, after it emerged last year that it wanted to sell land earmarked for housing and a smaller play area.

A spokesman for Barnet College said: "The understanding has always been that the pitch will be accessible for the local community. The problem was that time elapsed since the original plans were submitted, and it was neccessary to lobby the local community, and find out whether they still wanted an all-weather pitch."

Mill Hill-based PEST has stolen a march on Barnet College with plans for a similar pitch on the Open Space.

PEST coaching director Cuthbert Martin, said: "We want to make sure that every young person has access to some sort of sports facility for nothing, or at a minimal cost," he said.

Funding for this pitch, anticipated to cost £220,000, is coming from the Single Regeneration Budget, doled out by central Government.

Mill Hill Rangers Football Club manager Vince Purdue said of the St James plans: "At the end of the day, it is the best we are going to get. It will be a massive feather in the cap for the school."