Rose Bowl plc has raised the minimum target of £2.4m within five weeks of offering shares and chairman Rod Bransgrove is 'thrilled to bits'.

The offer will now be extended until May 31 with Bransgrove confident that a further £2.6m can be raised.

He said: "We allotted all those shares on Wednesday and we're in advanced negotiations with several venture capital trusts and other institutions.

"I suspect that we might find that we will raise the outstanding sums reasonably quickly. It means that we can continue with our business plans with confidence.

"We can address those areas where there was planned expenditure and go for them rather than just plan for them.

"Anything we now raise between £2.4 and £5 million means that we can invest in things that weren't initially in our plan.

"By 2004 we want permanent fencing around the cricket bowl, at least one more covered stand, a sports injuries clinic and a sports superstore.

"We're looking to float the company in 12 to 18 months."

Bransgrove attended the First Class Forum at Lord's this week.

"People are watching, we're still breaking the ground," he added. "We're very fortunate, we have 150 acres here, with very accessible land. It gives us a lot of options. We're very well placed for the future."