PLANS for a £250,000 skate park for skaters, scooter riders and BMX enthusiasts has been approved.

The skate park, which will be about the size of a football pitch, will be created in Preston Park, Eaglescliffe.

The plan was unanimously approved by Stockton Borough council’s planning committee on Wednesday, January 15 and there were no objections.

The skate park will include jumps, street furniture, a plaza-type facility, rollovers, spines, jump boxes and quarter pipes and will have a bridge feature. It has been designed to be suitable for both beginners as well as experienced skaters. It will be built where the crazy golf facility is currently located.

A report to the planning committee noted Preston Hall and grounds were Grade II-listed, but said: “The crazy golf is a modern intervention within the park and considered to be a less sensitive area of the park with other modern facilities adjacent including the cafe, toilet block and car parking area.”

Stockton council has previously approved a skate park in Billingham’s John Whitehead Park. The new facility will be jointly funded Sport England and Stockton Council and is due to open in the spring.

Stockton Council’s cabinet member for arts, leisure and culture, Councillor Ken Dixon, said: “This will be an excellent addition to Preston Park and it will provide a terrific new facility for young people to enjoy their sport in safe surroundings with a properly maintained, landscaped and well-designed course.”