CLARETS players are backing a campaign to save a playing field at a former Burnley high school.

Burnley FC’s goalkeeping coach Billy Mercer, new shot-stopper Tom Heaton and trainee keeper Dan Nizic paid a surprise visit to the fields at the old Hameldon College site.

They took part in a training session with more than 150 children who use the fields which are under threat as Lancashire County Council is considering selling off the land for development.

Zoe Pennington, one of several parents leading the campaign to save the fields, said: “They stayed for the whole training session. They just loved our set up and couldn’t believe what will happen.

“They offered to come back down and said they will help us in any way they can. Tom Heaton has offered to come back down to do some training with the kids.”

Zoe arranged the visit, but kept it secret from the children and parents.

She said: “Nobody knew, we hadn’t told anybody. It was their big surprise and the kids were really excited about it all.

“They met the children, spoke to them all, and signed some autographs. It’s not very often that Burnley Football Club do things like this. The parents were really happy that they had given their time and the children won’t forget this.”

After hearing of the plight the junior teams are facing, the players pledged their support for the campaign to save the playing fields.

Zoe added: “When Billy found out what was happening he was really shocked. He said ‘where else will you go?’ There’s nowhere big enough in Burnley.

“He’s going to mention it to the directors of Burnley Football Club to see if they can do anything to prevent this from happening, and I’m going to send pictures from the training session to the club.”