IMPROVEMENTS which are worth £103,000 at a children’s play area in Oswaldtwistle have moved a step closer to completion after architects unveiled their final design for the park.

Teenager David Reid launched the West End Play Area Campaign in 2012 to call for better facilities at the Blackburn Road site.

Now landscapers at social enterprise Newground have drawn up plans for a host of features, including swings, a slide, a roundabout and a trampoline with an aerial runway.

A basket swing, a ‘sky surf’ for older children, along with space for football, basketball and climbing, are also part of the design, which is the result of months of planning and consultation with the park’s users.

Over the past two years, David, 13, has built up support from friends, family and Hyndburn businesses to raise money for the improvements.

Hyndburn Council, the Lancashire Environmental Fund, Oswaldtwistle Area Council and Together Housing Group’s charity, Newground Together, have also contributed funding. Coun Ken Moss, Hyndburn Council’s cabinet member for parks and leisure, said: “This is fantastic news for children in Oswaldtwistle as they will have a new playground to use.”

Paying tribute to David’s fundraising efforts, Coun Moss added: “Special thanks should go to local boy David Reid who has been campaigning to improve play facilities in his local area. As he has proved, hard work and persistence really do pay off.”

A grant has also been received from the Windfall Fund, the community benefit fund associated with the wind farm on Oswaldtwistle Moor, in order to increase biodiversity and wildlife of the play area.