A PLAYGROUND project in Test Valley has been awarded almost £25,000 by the local council.

The Jubilee Field Playground committee for Lockerley and East Dean was given a £24,995 grant by Test Valley Borough Council following a fundraising concert in June that raised £1,000 for the project's funds.

Councillor Ian Jefferey said: "In this day and age it is so important that children have access to good quality play facilities to tempt them away from TVs and tablet computers and encourage them to enjoy the fresh air and stay active.

"This is an excellent project and one that Test Valley Borough Council is pleased to support."

The grant- along with other recent donations- brings the running total of funds up to £43,500.

As well as support from the local council, the project has been chosen by Romsey Waitrose for their Community Matters Scheme throughout August.

The scheme is a programme run by Waitrose, in which each month all branches donate £1,000 between 3 local causes chosen by shoppers.

Each shopper is given a token to place in one of three boxes, all representing a different local project that need funding.

The more tokens a cause gets, the bigger the donation they receive.

Claudia Rogers of the playground committee said: "We are hugely grateful to Waitrose and Test Valley Borough Council for supporting us- apart from helping us raise the profile of the project, the grant from Test Valley makes this project suddenly very real.

"If we can keep momentum up there is a chance we could get something built next year!"

The project still needs to raise a further £20,000 to reach their target, and the committee will be hosting homemade cake sales at Lockerley Green Stores on September 1, and October 6, from 8am.

To donate, please visit: www.justgiving.co./crowdfunding/jubileefieldplayground