THE new children’s play park at Dawlish is coming along nicely and looks nearly ready to open.

The works in Manor Gardens began in November last year and the £320k project looks set to live up to its ‘gold standard’ status of being one of the best in the county.

The high price will also cover the impressive children’s trail which is already taking shape through the town.

Town councillor Linda Petherick, right, has overseen the project. She said: ‘We are very nearly there. The equipment has been installed and we hope to have finished the child-friendly safety surfacing by the end of this week. We’ll then re-seed the lawn ready for inspection.’

‘After that the contractors will add the final touches and once it’s signed off we are expecting to have an official opening in the spring.’

One stand-out highlight of the new play park is a replica steam train for the children to clamber over.

That has been provided thanks to a generous £17.050.50 donation by rail firm GWR.

‘We are very grateful to them for the gift,’ said Cllr Petherick.