Harwich and Dovercourt Rugby Club is to get one of the greenest clubhouses in the country after winning nearly £150,000 funding.

A ground-source heat pump - a super-efficient system of underground pipes - alongside the Wick Lane club will provide cut price, eco-friendly heating and hot water.

And having just reached an agreement with Tendring District Council for a new lease plus winning cash for a changing room revamp, the club is looking forward to great things in the future.

The new green makeover is the result of research into the best way to cut the club's hefty power bills - currently £420 for electricity alone. Specialist firm Ecovision suggested the ground source heat pump solution, recently seen on several Channel 4 Grand Designs projects.

Bore holes are dug and loops of pipe laid, which carry heat to a pump within in the clubhouse. It could cut the club's heating costs by up to 70 per cent and reduces carbon emissions to zero.

Club chairman Barry Male, secretary Trevor Armstrong and committee member Dave Chilvers worked long and hard to secure a total of £62,000 in grants from the Community Sustainable Energy Fund, Low Carbon Buildings Programme and the Rugby Football Union. Work began on installing the heat source pump on Monday 11th January and is expected to last two weeks.

The club has also been awarded £86,914 by the RFU for the refurbishment of the changing rooms - the biggest grant awarded to a club in the Eastern Counties.

And as a mark of all the hard work and innovative thinking, the club has been nominated for the RFU Eastern Counties Presidents XV award for facility improvement.

Now members are embarking on a fundraising drive to bring the clubroom up to the same high standards, kick-started by a £1,500 donation from patron Chassis Cab.