A COUNCIL has finally taken delivery of a rare item of skateboarding equipment after a marathon journey from the United States.

But the prized stunt ramp, which is to form the centrepiece of a mobile skateboard park, almost didn't make it after it was seized by customs officials.

Equipment for Sedgefield Borough Council's mobile park has been arriving all summer but the specialist ramp, called a halfpipe, had to be ordered from a firm in San Fransisco.

The unusually shaped piece had to travel by road to Long Beach, California, then spent four weeks on a ferry through the Panama Canal and across the Atlantic Ocean.

But when it landed in Southampton it had customs officials scratching their heads.

After a number of phone calls and faxes, the halfpipe was finally released and arrived at the council's Chilton depot last week.

It will now form part of a skateboard park to tour the borough.

The park should be operational as soon as the council is satisfied it can transport the halfpipe safely.