AFTER drawing their ideal playpark, Princetown youngsters' dreams will soon be turned to reality with a grant of £35,000 towards the reconstruction of their existing play area.

Princetown Parish Council was awarded the Playbuilder grant after submitting the village youngsters' drawings of how they would like to see their play area improved.

Parish councillor Wendy Stones said: 'We're really pleased to have got the grant. We had consultations with the youth and parents and we asked kids of all ages to draw what they wanted in their playground and we took those drawings to Playbuilder.

'What we've got at the moment is rather old and tired. There is a fairly new section for really young children but the rest of it is very tired.'

The council arranged a meeting with a playground designer to look at what the youngsters wanted and to come up with a design.

'The kids will choose their favourite equipment for the park — the favourite seemed to be the zip wire. The idea was to have the children involved from the beginning in the hope that they will look after it.'

Cllr Stone said they are applying for more grants to help cover the cost of the reconstruction.

The council is now waiting to receive a 3D design of the new park, which will be put to the youngsters for approval. Meanwhile, work has started to clear the area and a fence is being put up to make the new park safe and dog free.