THE team behind an ambitious restoration project were yesterday given the best Christmas present they could have hoped for.

A grant of £505,000 was announced by the Heritage Lottery Fund for the Helmsley Walled Garden, one of the fastest-growing attractions in North Yorkshire.

The money will be used to restore Victorian out-buildings, including vine, fruit and orchard houses and will complete the garden's return to its former grandeur.

Delighted head gardener Paul Radcliffe said: "This is something we have been working towards for years.

"We are all really chuffed - although we are daunted by the size of the task that now lies ahead of us."

The five-acre garden, in the shadow of the town's castle, was first laid out in 1758 to serve the Duncombe estate. The greenhouses that will now be restored followed later.

The garden had long been derelict until Alison Ticehurst, the wife of a local GP, took it over in the 1990s and began the process of its regeneration.

She died at the age of 52, in 1999, just as the garden won charity status, and her dream has since been continued by a group of enthusiasts.

The gardens employ three full-time and three part-time staff as well as volunteers and seasonal helpers.

Last year, they successfully restored the garden's old orchid house at a cost of about £140,000.

Now they must raise an additional £80,000 before the next phase of their work can get under way.

"This was Alison's original dream and it assures the future of the garden," Mr Radcliffe said last night.

The latest phase of the renovation work is expected to start next summer, and will take about 18 months to complete.