The government has earmarked £30m over the next three years to help the most needy sports colleges build new pitches, install floodlights and provide better drainage so facilities can be used all year and round the clock.

Speaking at the Specialist Sports Colleges Conference in Telford, Ed Balls, Secretary of state for Schools and Families, said he wanted to see floodlit artificial turf pitches installed so pitches could be used at night and better drainage so grass pitches would not become waterlogged during winter.

He also urged more councils to end the 'no balls game' culture and help give children and young people out-of-school sports provision by opening up local facilities such as parks, playgrounds, basketball and tennis courts for longer hours.

"We want to encourage everyone to take part in sport,” he said. “And making sport an attractive option for all young people is especially important if we are to tackle obesity and give young people enjoyable and positive activities they can take part in after hours.

"We have some great sports facilities in schools. But at this time of year some young people find their local pitches are unlit and waterlogged. And even if they do function the gates are locked at sundown.”

He also challenged more local authorities to import activities like so-called 'Midnight Basketball' from the US to give young people positive activities in the early evening - to reduce disengagement and anti-social behaviour.

The money will be directed at those Sports Colleges most in need, and for whom the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme is still some way off. BSF will rebuild or refurbish every secondary school in England over the next 10-15 years, but some Sports College cannot wait that long.

Officials from the Department for Children, School and Families will work closely with the Youth Sport Trust to identify those sports colleges most in need in order to ensure the money is put to best use.

The Children's Plan, published in December, promised £225m over the next three years to build 3,500 playgrounds nationally across every single local authority and create 30 new adventure playgrounds in deprived areas.