YOUNGSTERS in Horrabridge will be able to play more safely now, thanks to the installation of soft surfacing beneath a number of pieces of equipment in Weir Park.

Following an initiative by Horrabridge Parish Council to improve the pay park, a grant for just under £10,000 was obtained from the Big Lottery Fund and soft surfacing was installed under the two main pieces of equipment, the Little Eagles Nest and the Long Swing.

Cllr Steve Roche said: ‘The problem before was that it was just grass underneath and in the winter grass turns to mud and in the summer it dries up and becomes hard.

‘The new surface is all weather and is much safer if a child falls — the rubber soft surface absorbs the impact and reduces the chance of injury. We thought a safety surface would be the right thing to do for the park to make it more safe for the children.

‘Now there is no muddy mess beneath the swings so it can be used more often. I’m sure it is going to be much better used from now on. We are hoping in a year or so we will be able to get another grant to get soft surfacing under the other two pieces of equipment.’

The soft surface is made of two layers of tyre crumbs, a spongy layer and a harder surface layer, which are laid on hardcore for drainage in a trench lined with weed-proof membrane. The work was undertaken by local contractor Mike Cann.

Dartmoor National Park Communities Fund also gave the parish council a 50% grant to install guttering and improve the drainage in front of the youth shelter near the play equipment.