A BRAND-NEW skatepark will at last be constructed in a town after a long wait for funding.

Fears had been raised that the two-year project for a skatepark in Town Mead, Waltham Abbey, might never happen after Essex County Council delayed for months handing over the £47,000 grant it had promised.

The council has now come good on its word and the new skatepark, which will also be usable by cyclists, will be constructed by March next year as match funding from Waltham Abbey Town Council has already been raised.

Town council leader Stuart Pryde said: “We are over the moon, obviously. We've been on tenterhooks for the last few months. If we didn't get the grant a lot of money would have been lost.”

The new facility will replace the former skatepark on Town Mead which was burnt down by arsonists in 2008.

Mr Pryde promised the new modern skatepark would be much better than the old wooden one.

“The one we are building will be a more proper concrete one,” he said. “We are absolutely delighted. There's a lot of youths who want to use it and it's much-needed in the town.”