WORK started on Monday to give Whitefield residents the borough's first ever Home Zone.

The £600,000 scheme will cover the Victoria Estate and aims to create a safer environment and improve the quality of life by putting the needs of children and pedestrians first.

A main element will be five "feature areas" with traffic-calming measures, where the road will be raised to the level of the pavement. The work will include ramps, new kerbs, resurfaced footways, granite paved areas and coloured imprint surfacing, drainage, signs and road markings.

The scheme was drawn up over many months in consultation with residents, and visits were made to other home zones in Manchester and Leeds.

Bury Council won the money for the 16-week project from the Department for Transport through its Home Zone Challenge Fund.

Councillor Mike Connolly, executive member for environment and transport, said: "The Home Zone is one measure we have taken to improve the quality of life at Victoria Estate. Others have included a new footpath through the park to link the estate to Bury New Road and the Quality Bus Corridor there as well as security improvements such as closing ginnels and trimming bushes and trees.

"With our help local residents are beginning to reclaim their streets."