VISITORS to Preston's popular Beacon Fell are set to benefit from almost £40,000 worth of improvements.

The visitor centre at the country park is to be revamped to include a new cafe, providing worn out walkers and weary nature lovers with somewhere to rest.

A further £33,500 is to be spent refurbishing the toilets at the centre, providing a baby changing room as well as renovating the existing toilets, which are more than 20 years old.

Lancashire County Council, which runs the centre, says the improvements are necessary to cope with the demands being made on the fell since the introduction of the Visitor Centre in 1995.

Initially the centre provided an information centre, shop and catering kiosk, with a small exhibition area.

A classroom/exhibition room was recently added to cope with the demand from local schools, keen to use the centre as part of the National Curriculum.

Known as the Bowland Visitor Centre, is the base for the county's rangers and is the main information centre for the entire Trough of Bowland area, which is very popular with the tourists.

Beacon Fell attracts 300,000 people a year.

A county council spokesman said: "Overall, the improvements will complete the visitor centre complex, ensuring a high standard of service to all visitors.

"The changes will also mean that the visitor centre will be open for longer periods than normal and, because the existing shop will be run by the catering staff, our information assistant who is based there will be able to spend more time helping people.

"We hope the additions will give us a first class education facility which can be enjoyed be everyone."

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