YEARS of hard work have paid off for a small band of dedicated volunteers with news that Sutton Park has been awarded a £111,000 lottery grant.

The Edwardian park, managed by the village's parish council, is in a bad state of repair and needs thousands of pounds spending on it.

It was former parish council chairman Barbara Smith who first had the vision to restore the park to its former glory. And now her vision is about to come true after Heritage Lottery Fund bosses backed her bid for cash.

The news was officially broken on Wednesday, although Barbara has known since last week and was sworn to secrecy.

"It's a bit of an anti-climax really, because I wasn't allowed to tell anyone," she told the Herald. "It's been a lot of hard work and now we can begin the task of spending the money wisely and using it properly."

The lottery windfall marks the culmination of years of gathering information about the state of the park and putting a case forward as to why the project should get a slice of lottery cash.

Experts from York University were drafted in to prepare a report on how the fabric of the park had deteriorated over the years and what needed to be done.

The park was built between 1912 and 1920. It is seen as part of the village's industrial heritage and was left in trust to future generations in Sutton.

The restoration project involves looking at each aspect of the park and rebuilding, reconstructing or revamping it.

The scheme includes:

* Replacing the wooden parts of the park pavilion with stone, and re-roofing it to match the existing shelters. Installing central heating and disabled toilets - costing £35,000.

* Repairing the shelters and replacing damaged woodwork and windows - costing £17,000.

* Repairing paths, steps, gates and railings - costing £30,000.

* Resealing the park's boating lake - put at £3,300.

o Restoring 20 benches and replacing litter bins.

As well as the lottery grant, thousands of pounds have already been set aside by the parish council.

"The work on the pavilion is the most expensive part of the project, but we felt that because of the extra comfort and the amount of people who use it, it would be justified," said Barbara.

"Now we will have to advertise for a landscape architect to oversee the work."

Barbara said she was looking forward to the day when the park would be restored to its former glory. "I hope it will be a safe environment and used and respected by everyone in the vicinity," she said.