A golf centre in south Birmingham is bidding to broaden its appeal to a younger audience by building an 'adventure' golf course.

Universal Golf and Leisure, which owns and operates Wast Hills Golf Centre in Kings Norton, has unveiled new plans to build the 18-hole course on 32,670 sq ft of vacant land at the centre.

The club, in Redhill Road, currently has a 27-bay driving range and nine-hole pitch and putt course.

Cheltenham-based Universal Golf and Leisure has run the club, known as Golfbug Wast Hills, since 2011 and increased its user base to around 100 customers a day during high season and 65 in the low season.

According to submitted planning documents, the company says that, in order to increase these numbers and further the hub's appeal, it must reach out to a younger demographic.

A design statement said: "At present our customer base is predominantly made up of males between the ages of 27 and 75.

"Other golf centres in comparison that have adventure golf are frequently visited by juniors and have managed to convert adventure gold users to driving range customers.

"The adventure golf will attract juniors to the site and will function as an initial introduction to golf."

Universal Golf and Leisure said currently customers would typically spend between 45 and 60 minutes at the site but it was hoped an adventure course would provide a reason to extend their time there and see it as a golf complex rather than just a driving range.

The project mirrors a recent development in Cannon Hill Park, Edgbaston, where Leicestershire-based Golden Putter opened a £500,000, 36-hole mini golf course last summer.

Last month, Wast Hills received planning permission to build a café at the driving range whose location, the company said, had been chosen with the adventure course in mind as the viewing area overlooks the last hole of the proposed new course.