A BELOVED pick-your-own farm will bear fruit for another two years after a development delay allowed its lease to be extended.

In 2014 that Grays Farm on Heathland's Road was put up for sale and bought by Wokingham Borough Council (WBC), which planned to build a sports hub on the land to serve the South Wokingham Strategic Development Location.

The Gray family, who have been providing fresh produce to the people of Wokingham since the 1970s, were told they could stay until September 2017, when work on the hub would begin in proper.

With less than four months to go until ground was due to be broken however, the Council extended the farm's lease until 2019.

Andy Glencross, green infrastructure service manager at WBC, said: “The current lease at Grays Fruit Farm has been extended to 2019.

"As agreed by the Executive in 2015, the site will be used for an outdoor sports hub to serve the town’s new communities once these developments are appropriately advanced, including the delivery of the South Wokingham Distributor Road .”

Unforeseen hold-ups in the building of the distributor road means the sports facilities are some way off.

While this is a blow for the Council and sporty Wokingham residents, fruit fans will welcome the continued service of the farm.

Peter Gray, the farm's 68 year-old owner, said: "Summer is coming and the strawberries are ripening fast.

"The Council has given us another extension on the lease. I expect things to run and carry on.

"My father bought the farm in 1969 and we started selling to the public in the early 70s. We are the biggest pick-your-own in Berkshire and the best in the country. We won the national pick-your-own award in 2013."

On Saturday May 27 a Red Cross plant sale will be held at Grays Farm from 10am to 3pm.