City park restoration nears end

A £2.7m project to restore a Grade II listed park in South Yorkshire is nearing completion.

Cash was given from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2006 to bring Sheffield's Weston Park back to its original design.

Improvements at the Victorian park have included restoring the bandstand, new gates and fencing and new bridges built over the lake.

A celebration event on 1 June will mark the end of the restoration.

Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed said: "Restoring the park is the culmination of nearly 10 years' work and has been a real team effort involving the organisation from across the city, including the university, Weston Park Museum, the children's hospital, local people and the council."

Weston Park was designed in 1872 by Robert Marnock who also designed the city's Botanical Gardens and General Cemetery.

The park already attracts about 150,000 visitors per year and the figure is expected to increase by 50,000 per year on completion of the restoration.