Darlington Football Club quit its Feethams ground in the town in 2003 to move into a new stadium, and the site is now owned by a cricket field trust.

The council has informed the owner of its intention and a notice to demolish all the buildings on the site is due to be served.

The work is expected to start before Easter and will cost about �200,000.

The situation has been made worse by a number of arson attacks on the site in recent months.

John Buxton, Darlington Council's director of development and environment, said: "The site has not been used for three years and the buildings are in a dangerous condition.

"Darlington has a new multi-million pound stadium which is the home of Darlington Football Club and we want to ensure that there is maximum use of this state-of-the-art facility."

Any future use of the site will be decided by the Darlington Cricket Field Trust.