A SPECIAL needs nursery is celebrating after the completion of a new £40,000 sensory play room.

The refurbished room at Rainbows, a special needs therapy nursery for pre-school children based in the Holden Centre, will provide a hot water bed, touch sensitive walls, a vibrating chair and fibre optic strings among other things.

The nursery, in Gisburn Road, Barrowford, got the funding from the People's Millions Big Lottery Fund when it came runner-up in a televised phone vote last year.

The sensory room was originally set up 15 years ago, but needed updating with the latest innovations, as well as access improvements for children with mobility difficulties.

Carol Wilson, nursery manager, said: "It was fantastic. We all went in and it was all very new and the children were looking around and loving it because it offers them a chance to relax.

"There is a water bed and touching walls which children can touch certain areas and get rewarded with music.

"The kids have already been using them. We had one boy who was loving it but then decided using his hands was far too much work and started using his head to work it."

The new room, for up to six special needs children at any one time, will officially open on June 22 and is open to children aged from six months to five years old.

Carol added: "The new sensory play room will provide a range of activities which will stimulate the children and help them get more confidence and independence in their interactions with other people and their environ-ment."

Children from both Burnley and Pendle who are struggling with learning difficulties are referred to Rainbows to get the extra help they need, and those who attend have a wide spectrum of learning problems, from mild hearing or visual impairment, to profound multiple dis-abilities, many with additional complex medical problems.

Rainbows encourages them to learn to play, walk, talk and develop self-help and social skills.