PROTESTERS have threatened to kick off over plans to build a football stadium in Canterbury's countryside.

They vowed to hold more demonstrations after the council revealed potential locations for pitches and facilities for Canterbury City football club.

A report – drafted by consultants for the council – identified Ridlands Farm, off South Canterbury Road near Kent and Canterbury Hospital, as the preferred site for the ground and community pitches.

City FC bosses welcomed the conclusions but neighbours claim they are off side.

Dick Vane-Wright, spokesman for South Canterbury Residents' Association, said: "It may be a time for another show of strength. We are very dubious about the scoring methods that saw Ridlands Farm come out on top."

The group, which has already held one demonstration at the site, met this week to discuss their next step and are planning to attend the Canterbury area panel meeting on Monday.

They have the backing of Lib Dem councillor Nick Eden-Green, who said other sites – including the community garden in Sturry Road – may be better.

The council has been discussing where the football hub should be since 2002 and has spent £80,000 on consultants. Talks went up a gear when Canterbury City FC reformed in 2006 – the original club went out of business in 2001.

The latest report was sent to the council in September but only released last week and identified four viable sites out of 23 possibilities: Ridlands Farm, which is owned by the council, Nackington Road, Cockering Farm and Cockering Road.

It recommended building a gym, commercial five-a-side pitches and a bar or cafe as well as pitches for the club and community to use, costing as much as £4.5 million.

But council bosses say they favour a smaller scheme, with floodlit pitches plus seating for 150 people, for £2.3million.

A previous public consultation found fewer than half the people surveyed supported the idea of a hub at Ridlands Farm, and 60 per cent of Canterbury residents were against it.

Canterbury City chairman Phil Knight said the hub would allow the club to carry on with its community work. At the moment it uses more than a dozen different locations.

He said: "Whilst the precise location of the football facility is for others to confirm, the club is keen to work closely with all prospective neighbours to ensure that the venue becomes a real asset for the local population."

Consultation on the report will officially begin at the meeting of Canterbury Area Members Panel on Monday, at 7pm at the Guildhall.

Officials must decide whether to designate the site for the football hub as part of a new planning blueprint, which could add several years to the process, or to apply via a planning application while the land is still designated as public open space. If officials decide the scheme conflicts with the public open space description the application could be decided by the Secretary of State.