THE oldest park in Accrington is set to receive a £100,000 investment after a councillor kept his promise to revive it.

Milnshaw Cllr Paul Cox, has gathered together £106,000 to build a multi-use games area on the lower tier of Milnshaw Park.

The funding will also go towards building an all-weather cricket, rounders and kabbadi court on the former tennis courts in the park.

The councillor was elected in 2011 and vowed to invest in the park by clearing out the damaged trees and debris in the park and bringing an area for children to play in.

After a Big Lottery Fund application was declined, the councillor managed to receive funding off the church and Milnshaw Area Council, the Lancashire Environment Fund, Central Area Council and the Lancashire Drug and Alcohol Team fund.

Cllr Cox said he made a pledge to the residents of Milnshaw that the park would be his main priority when it came to improving the area for children.

He said: “There has been barely any funding in the park for around 20 years which has meant many children, including my own, that have missed out on playing there.

“When I was elected I wanted to make sure the next generation would have somewhere to go, there are lots of houses in this area that children live in but have nowhere to go.”

Milnshaw Park was the first park to be built in Accrington, in 1878 the land which was known as ‘Victoria Gardens’ was bought for £500 and the mayor at the time, Alderman Lightfoot, opened the park in June 1880.

Cllr Cox said: “It’s been a long, long process which I have slowly chipped away at. This is the first stage complete and I want to expand into other areas of the park in the future.”