PLAYTIME in a village near Winchester is set to change for ever after thousands of pounds were secured to develop new facilities.

Youngsters aged between two and 12 will get a dream playground after the Sparsholt Playground Association scooped £39,723 of funding.

Lottery cash was awarded to the village by the community fund, which hands out cash to groups across the county.

The association was set up by a group of residents who thought the village could offer its children much better facilities to use in their spare time.

A play area on the green in Woodman Close currently only has a swing and a slide.

It will be transformed with an adventure trail, lots of wooden play equipment, a basketball court and benches for people to enjoy.

Work will start in June and it is hoped the play area can be ready by July.

Chairman of the Sparsholt Playground Association Wendy Dean said: "We got together a year ago and decided that there were not enough facilities in Sparsholt and the children had nothing to do.

"It was lots of hard work but worth it in the end. We are delighted to hear we got the grant.

"There are lots of children here and we are trying to make the rest of the green into a nice meeting place for the rest of the community to use."

The association has taken over the lease of the park from the parish council and will completely control the project.