JUBILANT organisers joined diggers at Chesham's Lowndes Park to mark the start of building work on a £90,000 skate park.

The new development, which will also have a junior play area and cricket pitch, was approved in April after four years of discussions between the Chesham Town Council, Chesham Society and Chesham Youth Council.

Cllr Tony Reed, the Mayor of Chesham, gave his support to the park and praised the youth council for its research, which included a visit to a skate park in Hampshire.

However, Bernard Meldrum, vice-chairman of the Chesham Society, said he would have liked facilities for everyone, not just for youths.

He said: "I welcome the fact that something has happened after a lengthy delay. But I am concerned that facilities for other people, and other age groups are not going ahead at the same time. We need something that will improve the park, for not just the old and young, but also the blind and deaf."

No-one on the youth council was available to comment yesterday but Mike Kennedy, Chesham Town Council clerk, said the council was doing the best it could to improve the area.

He said: "The original concept, the bigger picture was to do these things, such as a scented garden, paths, and interpretation boards. But we did not win the lottery application.

"It wasn't successful, so we are doing it in bite-size pieces."

He added that they are trying to cater for as many people as possible and that they would remove a "dysfunctional fountain" and creating a flat area to be used for entertainment in the summer. An earlier £1 million scheme had been turned down for National Lottery funding.

After it was turned down again for a £250,000 scheme, Onyx Environmental Trust gave the project a grant of more than £82,000.