MELSKHAM'S £140,000 skatepark could be completed by the end of this month thanks to a mammoth cash grant.

The charity Living Spaces has donated £41,500 towards the project, almost double the amount expected.

Yvonne Ashe, who along with Janice Viveash and a group of young skateboarders has worked tirelessly to raise cash for the new park, was pleased all the funding was now in place.

She said: "It's terrific we have got everything we need now. I heard we had got the money on Christmas Eve so it was a great Christmas present and just what the kids wanted. We have been working towards this for two years.

"It will be great for the kids when the diggers move in because they will be able to see something happening."

Campaigners were hoping to complete the park, which will be built in the King George V playing field, last year but last-minute problems meant the start date had to be pushed back.

"We wanted the skatepark in 2003 but the district council condemned the existing half pipe and we had no funding in place for a new one," said Mrs Ashe.

"When we told Living Spaces they said they would do everything they could to help us and now all the money is there and everything will be built in the same place."

Volunteers, including skateboarders and parents, will donate their services during the construction phase, saving thousands of pounds, and Huna Designs has agreed to build the skatepark itself.

Companies including Bloor Homes have also donated money.

Nicki Coyne, of Melksham First, said: "Everybody is over the moon. When it is completed it will be one of the biggest skateboard parks in the area."

West Wiltshire District Council approved plans for the parky in November. An application for lighting still needs to be made but campaigners are confident there will be no more hold-ups.

Cllr Ernie Clark, the district council's leisure and rural affairs portfolio holder, said: "It's a good example of local people, especially children, knowing what they want and getting on with it, working in partnership with the district council. It is something the new administration would like to see more of."

As soon as the skatepark is complete a committee will be formed to help maintain it and protect it from vandalism.