CELEBRATIONS were in full swing in Barnton last Wednesday as the village recreation ground was officially opened.

Fundraising to develop the Nursery Road park was started about six years ago and village committee members can now take a well earned rest after their dedication saw the ribbon cut and the park open to the public.

Committee secretary and parish councillor Angela Robinson said: "From start to finish the project has been coming up to six years.

"The initial stage was a village survey in 2000 taken by the youth club to see what people wanted and this was the result.

"The parish council put some money aside to get the project in motion and then we contacted Groundwork for support."

The £305,000 Nursery Road project was split into two phases, with the first being a skate park opened in 2004/2005, and now Angela is happy to see the rest of the work completed.

The second phase included a new toddler and junior play area, improved recreational facilities and also football pitch cutting, filing and grading and Angela is happy with the result.

She added: "We had a short speech and the ribbon was cut by Olive Goulding, who is the longest serving member of Barnton parish council, a former village school teacher and who was also a founding member of the group.

"There were quite a lot of people there, some parish councillors, three Barnton borough councillors, a Groundwork representative and members of the community.

"My best moment was when I found out the playground had passed its inspection and the fencing had been taken down.

"I went to have a look and could not see any of the equipment as there were so many children already there."