CHILDREN in Stanthorne are making the most of their last week off school with at a revamped playground which was unveiled last Thursday.

The official opening comes more than two years after children and residents in the area were consulted on what facilities they would like to see on the site in Beckett Avenue.

Members of the town council and residents braved the bleak forecast to watch as the Town Mayor, Malcolm Gaskill, cut a ribbon and declared the play area open.

He said: “The new play area looks superb and I’m sure that Stanthorne youngsters will be pleased to see that it includes many of the items of play equipment that they asked for during the public consultation.”

The scheme is part of the town council’s five-year plan to upgrade all of its play areas, and cost £60,000 in total receiving funding from Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) Winsford Town Council and a £35,000 grant from the Landfill Communities Fund of the Waste recycling Group, run by Waste Recycling Environmental Limited (WREN).

CWAC Brian Clarke, who set aside £550 of his individual members budget for the project, said: “I’ve tested some of the equipment myself and it’s fantastic.

“We’ve kept the full size football pitch as it’s what the kids wanted.

“They said they must have somewhere for a kick about so we’ve put in new drainage and full size goal posts.

“There’s a climbing frame, spinning poles, a big rope swing with a tyre, which was getting some hammering by the kids.

“It can by used by all ages from babies and toddlers to older children, in their teens.”

Stanthorne is the second play area in the town to receive a facelift, after Meadowbank, with plans for the Leaf Lane site off Wharton Road already underway.