Bradley hit the lottery jackpot this week after being awarded a massive £42,000 to improve the village's playground facilities and save them from the threat of closure.

The cash grant to pay for the whole of the project was announced yesterday (Thursday) by the National Lottery Charities Board.

It marks the end of several years of hard work by members of Bradley's Playground Improvement Group, or PIG for short.

The money will be used to extend the existing small playground, install modern play equipment and put down a special safety surface.

PIG chairman Michael Noon was delighted with the news.

"This is fantastic news for the village - a reward for over three years of hard work by PIG and all of its supporters.

"Without the grant there was a real risk that the playground would have had to be closed down, as have so many others in the recent past.

"We now look forward to getting on with the building of the new playground, which we hope will be a lasting celebration of the new millennium."

Equipment at Bradley's children's playground is more than 60 years old and was moved to its present position, behind the cricket field, from the village school.

Mr Noon explained the appeal to revamp the playground was the brainchild of a handful of parents fed-up with the current equipment's state of disrepair.

"The equipment which is there now was funded by public appeal - it wasn't paid for by any council," he said.

"The only way we could see a way out of it was to try and get some money together ourselves.

"But we realised from the start we would need of lot of that money from grant aid."

National Lottery Charities Board experts had to look into the history of the playground to make sure that it was originally funded solely by the people of Bradley before they could grant any money.

Now the old-fashioned swings, slide, roundabout and rocking horse are to be replaced with state-of-the art equipment.

And a bark chipping surface will also be replaced.

"The whole thing needs ripping out and starting again, and that's exactly what we're going to do," added Mr Noon.

"We're hoping to start work in the summer and have the official opening on Bradley Families Day."

PIG members have already raised £7,000 and will use that as a maintenance fund for the new playground.

Picture by Stephen Garnett. 15/2822/28

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