BURY has played host to a group of Czech mates keen to see how derelict sites are transformed into leisure areas.

The borough's reputation for restoring old industrial land such as Burrs Country Park in Bury and Outwood Forest Park in Radcliffe has spread abroad.

A party of town planners from the Czech Republic came here last Thursday( June 14) in a trip organised through the Royal Town Planning Institute, which felt that Bury was an ideal place to visit.

The Czechs are from the Institute for Spatial Development in the republic's second city of Brno, and were keen to view projects where land had been reclaimed and turned into community recreation facilities.

Councillor Julie Higson, executive member for the environment and transport, said: "Bury has developed an enviable reputation for success in such schemes and we are happy to pass on the lessons we have learned.

"Bury was at the forefront of Britain's industrial revolution and it was sad to see much of that success gradually disappear and fall into decay over the decades that followed.

"Now though, our borough has successfully taken up this new challenge to bring these areas of dereliction back into use for the benefit of the community and it is good to see that we are once again leading the way."