PLAY areas in Stratton have been upgraded with pirate ships, parkour facilities, games areas, cycle routes and swings.

Stratton St Margaret Parish Council used funding from developers to pay for the new equipment and its open spaces team planted wildflower meadows around the sites.

Senior open spaces officer Oliver Saunders said: “It is a fantastic opportunity for us as a council to have this developers contributions money available to spend on open space improvements. Children’s play equipment is incredibly expensive to build and then to maintain and so it is a big commitment to install more of it.

"We have a really great team who maintain our play equipment to a high standard and we know that children and adults alike get huge pleasure and fun from it.

"The parkour is great for thrill seekers that want to jump around and stretch their physical capabilities but we are noticing it is also being used for more controlled exercise such as doing chin-ups on the high bars.

"We have undertaken a great deal of general repairs and small upgrades, and always welcome any feedback on our play areas.”

Open spaces committee chairman Coun Teresa Page said: "It is great that we are able to provide these marvellous play parks that our young families can use at no cost."

"We are more aware than ever of the importance of fresh air and exercise for our children, Our parks are enormously popular with our young and not so young residents."