SLOUGH Borough Council have begun to answer their critics over the huge rise in sports pitch fees this year.

The Council passed a £67.82 increase in the cost of adult football for the 2015/16 season, a 55 per cent rise on last year’s prices.

The proposal had to be approved by the Council’s cabinet as it exceeds inflation by more than three per cent.

The cost of child football has risen £39.42 (17 per cent), with price for adult cricket more than doubled, up £76.70 (112 per cent).

Fees were implemented on April 1, and met with outrage on social media from sports clubs within the borough of Slough.

The East Berkshire Football League tweeted: “Not one reply from Slough Council after pitch hikes go through the roof. Does anyone care?” After four weeks of questions and complaints, the Slough Borough Council has issued a statement regarding the rise in fees.

The Statement read: “Each year, we spend more than £200,000 on the upkeep of the football pitches and associated facilities (for example changing rooms, goalposts, nets, opening and closing gates) in the borough.

“Last year, fees from football clubs using the pitches amounted to £30,000. This meant the council was subsidising the clubs around £170,000 a year.

“Unfortunately, as many people are aware, we have suffered major cuts to our grants from central government which meant that, for this year, we needed to make £14.5 million of savings.

“This massive cut, which came on top of three previous years of cuts, means we can no longer subsidise football to the levels we have in the past and we had to raise pitch fees.

“To ensure it was done fairly, we compared the prices of 12 neighbouring authorities and chose a new price which was average amongst them for both adult and child rates.

“The same was done for the fees for cricket pitches.

“We understand the rise may be upsetting for local football clubs, however at a time when money to provide services is so short, it is not fair on local taxpayers to subsidise one or two sports over all other park-based activities to such a degree.

“We have great plans for parks and park-based activities and organised sport continues to be a part of that.” Are Slough Borough Council right to raise the cost of pitches by up to 112 per cent for the 2015/16 season? Have your say now. Post a comment below, tweet us at @Observer_sports or e-mail rstevens@berksmedia.co.uk