REGENERATION plans for a park moved a step closer after planners scooped tens of thousands of pounds of lottery money for a funding bid.

The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded Alkincoats Park, in Alkincoats Road, Colne, £49,700, which together with £50,000 from Pendle Council will be used for a regeneration bid under the Lottery 'Parks for People' programme.

If the bid is successful the improvements could be made to the drainage, tennis courts, Victorian garden and pond, which councillors have been wanting to fix since 1999.

In May local residents celebrated the opening of Marsden Park, which was restored at a cost of £1.8 million.

And councillors said at Thursday's executive meeting at Nelson town hall, local residents and community groups will be extensively consulted to ensure their needs are met.

Councillor Ann Kerrigan said: "This is a really big achievement because they think the scheme that we gave to them is worth pursuing.

"There is a lot of investment in Pendle parks and we need to continue this to ensure they are kept to a high standard.

"When the plans for the project get started it will involve local residents and voluntary organisations.

"It belongs to the community and I think it is something we can be proud of and this is an opportunity to put a large chunk of money into one of the largest parks around."

The grant application for the park, which currently houses six tennis courts, two bowling greens, football pitches and a children's play area and is the site Colne's annual Colne Gala, was submitted to the heritage Lottery fund in June 2007 as part of the first stage of the funding.

The bid to renovate the park, which in April was given a new bandstand to replace the one built in 1922, will be formulated by the project consultants Gleeds and Gillespies and will need to be in for March 2008.

The maximum amount which can be awarded is £5 million.