PATIENCE will need to be a virtue for Melksham’s two biggest sports clubs after the completion date for the construction of their new £7 million home was pushed back until December at the earliest.

Work began on a state-of-the-art facility for Melksham Town football club and Melksham rugby club at Woolmore Farm in August 2015 and the former were set to play their first game at their new ground on October 15.

However, last week, the two soon-to-be stablemates were informed by Wiltshire Council that their new home has been hit by a delay to allow electrical work and subsequent testing to be completed.

Despite admitting his frustration, football club chairman Dave Wiltshire is certain the wait will be worth it.

“Everything with the building is finished and on-track, and it all looks superb,” he said.

“The problem that came up was to do with an electrical cable that went under a piece of land, and that piece of land was owned by four people, so all of the legal issues had to be sorted out.

“That was all done two weeks ago but that now means that we can’t use the building because we have to wait for all of the testing to be done, so we’ve been told that we should be there in December.

“It’s incredibly frustrating but the contractors have done everything they can and it’s no fault of the club.

“It’s a shame because we’d accepted all sorts of bookings between October and November – parties, christenings and things like that – and we’ve now had to let people down but I think they recognise that it’s no fault of the club.

“It will be superb when we’re finally in there and everybody at the club is looking forward to it.”

Melksham Town had also arranged a glamour friendly against a team of Manchester United legends on Sunday, October 16, but that match will now be taking place at their former ground – the Conigre (kick-off 4pm).

Darren Perrin’s Toolstation League side have been allowed to play all their Premier Division matches away from home so far this season but will make a temporary return to the Conigre from October 15 onwards.

“In fairness to the Manchester United legends, they’ve been superb and they were happy to have the match at the Conigre,” said Wiltshire.

“It’s a shame that 2000 fans won’t be able to watch those guys the day after our first game at the new ground but it should still be a fantastic event.

“There has been a little bit of pressure from the league for us to start playing home games and that’s absolutely fair.

“We looked into groundsharing but the only real option for us was going back to the Conigre, so we’re going to play the next four or five home games there.”

Woolmore Farm’s development was also delayed in April 2015 after the discovery of a protected colony of newts and this latest setback opens up some logistical issues for the rugby club, who saw their changing facilities at Melksham House wrecked by a fire in June this year.

However, secretary Andy Cadwallader is retaining a positive outlook.

He said: “We’re disappointed with the delay but it’s one of those things. When you’re dealing with such a project that involves such a huge infrastructure, these things can happen.

“The project has been beset by a number of problems but we’ll carry on working with the council and in the end, we’ll have a facility that we can all be proud of.

“We’re keeping a keen eye on the bigger picture.

“Melksham Town will be playing their home games at the Conigre but we’ve been using their changing rooms because ours burned down.

“We’re talking to the council at the moment and hopefully we’ll be able to organise some temporary changing facilities for when we play at Melksham House.”