A GROUP of mums are celebrating the end of a five-year battle to build a new playground in their village.

Work finally started at Station Road recreation ground in Cholsey ahead of a grand opening on Sunday, after a long-running campaign by parents.

Three years ago, mums in the village formed Play Adventure Recreation for Cholsey (Parc) to replace 20-year-old play equipment, much of which had been ruled unsafe by inspectors and taken away.

Chairman Stella Mitchell, 45, of Honey Lane, said the project had taken so long to be built that her children had grown too old to use it.

The mother-of-three said: “I started on this five years ago, when we were developing a parish plan that showed people wanted a new playground.

“It seemed so sad to go down to the play park to find another piece of equipment had gone because it had not passed the safety inspection.

“Cholsey is a growing village and we all hear about children not being healthy and just sitting watching TV. It has been a long, long haul to get this built.”

Joining forces with three other mothers, Mrs Mitchell set about finding what play equipment the children wanted, persuading other park users to back the project, then searching for the £126,000 needed to build a state-of-the-art playground.

But in July last year the whole project nearly fell apart when South Oxfordshire District Council turned down a bid for £80,000, leaving it with a huge shortfall of cash.

Mrs Mitchell said: “It was a terrible setback. We nearly gave up there and then because we just could not believe it.”

But the Big Lottery fund stepped in with a grant of £50,000, which allowed construction to begin.

The new playground has a separate area for nine- to 18-year-olds, as well as a section for toddlers.

Mrs Mitchell said: “Cholsey has a lot of young families and some that have not got as much money as in other areas.

“This will be a free activity that they can go down to, where children can run around and enjoy themselves.”

Future events include an open air jazz concert and family picnics.

Cholsey Parish Council chairman Mark Gray said: “The old play park was well by its sell-by date.

“As a parish council, we have committed to make sure the new one never gets into the state of disrepair the old one did.”