A WINCHESTER city councillor has been grilled over the failure to contact a World Cup football hero over plans to name a sports pavilion after him.

The King George V (KGV) pavilion in Highcliffe near the Bar End leisure park opened this summer, but some councillors and members of the public have been calling for the building to be named after Terry Paine, a former Highcliffe resident who is one of the last living members of the 1966 squad that triumphed at the World Cup.

At a full council meeting on November 6, Conservative councillor Jan Warwick asked cabinet member for community and engagement Cllr Kathleen Becker: “Is there any update on the naming of the King George V Pavilion after former Highcliffe resident and World Cup football hero, Terry Paine?”

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The KGV pavilion (Image: Contributed) Cllr Becker replied: "As you know, the KGV pavilion opened in the summer and it’s proving to be a great success. Since the project began […] the pavilion had come to be known as the King George V pavilion.

"In my last answer to you I did say that we’d be raising the issue with the KGV steering group which includes the football and cricket clubs to use the site, as well as representatives of the local community.

"We did raise it with that group, and while they are very supportive of naming the beautiful function room after Mr Paine, they prefer to have the pavilion itself referred to as the KGV pavilion in order to avoid any confusion for players and visitors so that’s what we’ve done. However, despite the best efforts of our officers, we have no contact details for Mr Paine […] so we haven’t been able to raise the suggestion with him."

SEE ALSO: Winchester council delays opening of new KGV Pavilion

This, however, was not the correct version of events according to Cllr Warwick.

She said: "Officers wrote back to me back in March asking for contact details and I put them in touch [with Mr Paine] but I never heard anything from them again. So not only did I not hear back from officers […] but I’ve not heard back from you either that you intended to name a room after him and it would be nice to know how that would proceed and whether he would be invited. […] Since March I’ve heard nothing which is why I’ve had to ask again."

Cllr Becker replied: "My apologies for that. I’m more than willing to write to [Mr Paine] myself."