Cheshire East Council has been promised £900,000 to build 12 new traveller pitches.

The council put in the successful joint bid with Cheshire West and Cheshire to provide better facilities for travellers on official sites, and was granted a share of the £60m pot from the government’s Homes and Communities Agency.

It is now looking at possible locations for the new pitches, which will each have room for two caravans and a number of cars. A planning application for 10 pitches at Parkers Road in Crewe is due to be submitted after it was chosen as the most suitable location for a site in October last year.

A council spokesman said: “We have a legal duty to look at the housing needs of gypsies and travellers and assessments indicate we need to increase the number of pitches available in Cheshire East.

“Cheshire East teamed up with Cheshire West and Chester Council and Warrington Borough Council in a joint Cheshire bid.  Further details and the proposed location of pitches will now be discussed between all parties before moving forward.”

He added: “It is important to stress that the £900,000 we have secured from the Homes and Communities Agency is not attached to the development of any particular site in Cheshire East. The money can only be accessed once planning permission has been granted. Therefore the planning process for the Parkers Road application will not be prejudged.”