A number of Britain's leading sportsmen, sportswomen and administrators - ranging from former cricket captains and Olympians to directors of national governing bodies - have signed a letter calling for increased protection for the country's playing fields.

In a letter to the editor in today's The Times (18 August, p.23) the group announced the launch of a National Playing Fields Legacy Fund and called for the industry to show its support for the initiative.

The fund aims to protect playing fields and will be administered by Fields in Trust.

"Over the past 20 years vast numbers of the nation's playing fields have been lost to development - 6,000 sites were lost between 1992 and 2009 alone," the letter in The Times states.

"We would like to propose that the big sporting clubs, and the big sporting events, in this pre-Olympic year, each consider using one day in the season to promote the National Playing Fields Legacy Fund and so to help ensure this legacy.

"The 2012 Olympics were won for London on the promise of a legacy for everyone in the UK, and we want to ensure that this happens."

Signatures on the letter include former England cricket captains David Gower, Mike Gatting and Mike Brearley; champion jockeys A. P. McCoy and Frankie Dettori; Lorraine Brown, performance director of Biristh Handball Association and Labour peer Lord Faulkener.