A NATIONAL Lottery grant could help transform Bury's Clarence Park.

And the news is music to the ears of bandstand campaigner Miss Marisa Dale.

She has welcomed the proposal which could ultimately see Lottery cash being pumped into the popular leisure spot to fund a variety of improvements.

Miss Dale, of Raymond Avenue, Bury, has already raised the equivalent of £10,000 in cash and building materials to build a bandstand in the park.

Almost a year ago, the base of the bandstand was built and unveiled during an official opening.

The remainder of her fund-raising, amounting to £1,500, was presented to Bury Council to help in further work to provide the bandstand with railings and a weatherproof cover.

Miss Dale has worked tirelessly over recent years to instigate improvements to the park and lido area.

In the summer, Bury Council officials met with Miss Dale and other interested groups to discuss future work at Clarence Park and the possibility of winning National Lottery cash.

"We were all asked for suggestions of what we wanted in the way of improvements and repairs, including the bandstand," said Miss Dale.

"In the long-term, I hope the new bandstand can be a replica of the one that used to be at the site."

Miss Dale is anxious the bandstand project is eventually completed.

"Since the ceremony last year, people have been asking me when it's going to be finished," she said.

A spokesman for Bury Council said the authority was working on a National Lottery bid which would embrace a series of proposals for general improvements at Clarence Park.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.