A park will receive a £2 million makeover thanks to the Heritage Lottery and Big Lottery Fund.

A bid for funding to develop Rhyddings Park in Oswaldtwistle has been secured by Newground Together and Hyndburn council, it was announced this week.

Local agencies and the Friends of Rhyddings Park have worked tirelessly for the last two years to gain the funding that will not only revolutionise the park but also bring 600 training opportunities and new jobs to the area.

Building works will begin in April 2016 and should last around 12 months.

Neil Mooney, chairman of the Friends group, is delighted.

He said: “Over the last 10 years Friends of Rhyddings Park has worked hard to build relationships that have enabled this bid to be so strong.

“With setbacks along the way the process hasn’t always been easy.

“But we are now thrilled to be in a position where all the hard work of all the partners is coming to fruition.

“We can’t thank Newground enough for the way they have handled this and achieved such fantastic results to benefit the community of Oswaldtwistle.”

The money will be used to restore the Coach House to create a new community venue, return the derelict walled garden to its traditional use of food growing, including the construction of Victorian style greenhouses, establish a training and volunteering programme linked to park management, community engagement and health promotion managed by Newground working with the Friends of Rhyddings Park.

Work will also be carried out with Bootstrap Enterprises to develop a social enterprise at the Coach House, and a performance space working with Hyndburn Arts at the Civic Arts Centre and Theatre.

Coun Ken Moss, Hyndburn council’s cabinet member for parks, said the announcement was “exciting” news for the park.

He said: “Securing this grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund is absolutely fantastic news and means that Rhyddings Park will be completely refurbished.

“I want to say a big thank you to the Friends of Rhyddings Park, our Parks staff, our partners Newground Together, the Civic Arts Centre team, Bootstrap Enterprises and Lancashire County Council.

“These are exciting times for the park and I look forward to seeing it when all the work has been completed.”