PEOPLE creating a green haven in an East Lancashire village are celebrating after the project was awarded a grant of more than £13,000.

Residents in Withnell Fold are currently working with Groundwork Wigan and Chorley on a Millennium Green for the village, which will provide an area for local people to use for a range of activities.

Groundwork has been given £13,265 from Biffaward, a multi-million pound environment fund set up by Biffa Waste Services. The fund uses tax charged on waste taken into landfill sites to finance environmental and heritage projects. The money includes £1,326 made up of contributions from the Withnell Fold Millennium Green Trust, Withnell Parish Council and Chorley Borough Council.

The green will conserve local woodlands and will include a series of paths, recreational areas and quiet spaces among the trees.

A small amount of tree planting will take place and wildflower meadows will be developed.

Martin Bettington, chairman of Biffaward, said: "There is a vast number of Millennium projects around at the moment, many of them multi-million pound schemes. However projects do not need vast budgets to be beneficial to the community and the Withnell Fold Millennium Green demonstrates this aptly."

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