HRH The Princess Royal will officially open Preston's new £12million sports arena on April 13.

The Preston Sports Arena, in Cottam, was developed by the university in partnership with Preston Borough Council and was backed by a £7.9million lottery grant from Sport England.

The opening event will be hosted by the university, and the Royal visitor will tour the site, meeting pupils from local schools and people from organisations involved in the arena.

Covering 65 acres of the university's land at Cottam, the arena will serve the north west as a regional centre for a number of sports, including cycling, and will provide a new venue for athletics in the Preston area.

It will boast the UK's only premier league standard football pitch for the public and will feature a floodlit eight-lane athletics arena.

Other facilities include seven grass pitches, two floodlit all-weather pitches, four floodlit netball or tennis courts, a cricket square and pavilion, seven floodlit multi-use areas, a covered training area and a 1.5km cycle circuit.

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