A £50,000 lottery grant awarded to Stonehouse Town Council means a long-awaited skatepark will soon be built at Oldends Lane Playing Field.

The funding has come from Sport England's Places People Play legacy programme.

Plans to build the park have been in the pipeline for more than a year now and work can now begin on the project thanks to the work of the town council and youth group SPL4SH - Skatepark Lobby for Stonehouse.

Car boot sales, demonstration events and section 106 money given out via the town council have also helped the group reach its £118,000 target.

Town councillor Pam Swain said: "Members of SPL4SH have designed the facilities to ensure they get the best possible skatepark which suits the needs of everyone who may want to use it.

"They met with various companies to discuss designs and have narrowed it down to three choices for the town council to decide."

Alfie Stephens, 17, a member of SPL4SH, said: "We wanted something which would be suitable for skaters, bikers and scooters and also a facility which would accommodate beginners and people who are more advanced."

Work is due to start in September and will coincide with work on a new youth building next door.

Pete Brown, 17, a member of SPL4SH, said: "It's so exciting to think we are going to have our own skatepark in Stonehouse.

"So many people have worked really hard to make this happen but we have to mention Dom Smith who has been running the SPL4SH side of things since the beginning."

At the next town council meeting in September councillors will decide which contractor will build the park.