A PARK is to receive almost £150,000, some of which will help rejuvenate its bowling pavilion and give volunteer workers a place to meet.

Whitehall Park, Darwen, will get £100,000 from Blackburn with Darwen Council's capital budget.

Around £84,000 will go on refurbishing an unused building which overlooks the rose garden.

It was employed until about 18 months ago as a base for parks staff but is currently only used for storage.

Following the refurbish-ment, it will be used by parks and cemetery staff and there will also be a meeting room for the Friends of Whitehall Park.

The pavilion will be refurbished at a cost of £14,000 and will be made wheelchair-accessible.

Friends of Whitehall Park have also secured a £47,000 grant for a rose garden to be grown on the site of a former rubbish tip from waste management firm Biffa.

The group are awaiting the delivery of 100 rose plants in the next month. They hope work can begin before Christmas.

Friends group chairman John Starbuck Belthorpe said: "Both buildings desperately need upgrading.

"The accommodation in the bowling green pavilion is terrible, and we wanted to renovate the other building so the staff had a place to go and we had somewhere to hold meetings.

"Since the Friends of Whitehall park started in 2003, we have transformed the park."

Coun Karimeh Foster, who represents Whitehall ward, said: "It is definitely money well spent. The Whitehall area has not had one penny invested in it by the council until now.

"It's the residents and friends groups who are bringing money in and they are working very hard.

"Hopefully this will bring people in outside the town."

Coun Michael Law-Riding, the council's executive member for leisure and culture, said: "This investment shows our commitment to working with the Friends' groups who contribute so much to our parks.

"We are pleased to be working with them to provide this facility."