Contracts could soon be changed after a campaign group successfully raised £300,000 to buy a green space following a “wonderful community response”.

Heavens Valley Community Benefit Society (HVCBS) is to acquire the 102-acre Thrupp Farm, Stroud, known locally as Heavens.

HVCBS needed £850,000 in total to buy the site. Two members of the community have pledged £550,000, with the final £300,000 raised through fundraising and the sale of shares.

The purchase completes the first phase of the campaign to bring the site into community ownership.

A spokesman for HVCBS said: “We have now raised enough money to go ahead with the purchase of Thrupp Farm in Stroud.

“Attorneys are currently drafting the documents and finalizing the details necessary for HVCBS and the vendor to exchange contracts.”

More than 600 people have bought shares to secure the future of the site, but there is more fundraising to be done, the company said.

HVCBS said the next phase would be to raise a further £550,000 to repay the loans, as the lenders would technically own part of the site until repayments were completed.

Karen Thomas, a HVCBS member negotiating the purchase, said the campaign group would increase its fundraising efforts for the next phase.

“Our lenders want this beautiful land to be wholly owned by CBS as they themselves are part of the local community and are unable to manage large tracts of public land themselves,” Ms Thomas said.

“So we’re going to redouble our fundraising efforts and we’re confident that the community will continue their support.”