A NEW outdoor climbing facility to encourage youngsters to get active is a step closer to arriving in Okehampton.

Members of Okehampton Town Council have been awarded a grant of £15,000 from Okehampton United Charity towards the equipment, which would be based in the children's area in Simmons Park.

The equipment is expected to cost around £25,000 and will be eco-friendly and in keeping with the town's surroundings.

The town council is hoping for more funding after it wrote to Okehampton Hamlets requesting a grant last year.

They have already received a £5,000 Aggregates Levy grant — arising from aggregate and crushed rock quarried in the UK — through the Rock Environmental Treatment Scheme (RockETS).

Mayor of Okehampton Cllr David Weekes said the new equipment will bring more variety to the park.

He said: 'What the council are trying to do is take out the old equipment and put in something new in for the children. There will be rock climbing and interactive play climbing equipment.

'It will be fantastic to have a piece of climbing equipment in the park and we will continue to make it as good as we can to offer people a variety of activities.'

The new climbing facility is hoped to be up and running by this summer.

Members of the council will come to a decision tomorrow on what type of climbing equipment they want.