THE dream of restoring one of the region's finest parks to its former Victorian glory is to finally come true thanks to a longed-for £2.9m Heritage Lottery Fund grant.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has announced it will award Darlington Borough Council 75 per cent of the total £3.9m needed to restore decaying South Park, neglected for years.

The remaining cash will be made up by the council, County Durham Environmental Trust (CDENT), the Training and Enterprise Council and other community and local partners.

Dr Keith Bartlett, Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) regional manager for the North-East, said: "South Park is a wonderful public facility which provides an essential recreation area for the people of Darlington.

"With the help of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £2.9m, this open space will be restored to its former 19th-century splendour as well as having the welcome additions of a sensory garden and improved disabled access. This combination of enhancement, innovation and improvement of existing facilities and play areas epitomises the spirit of the HLF's Urban Parks Programme."

The first job will be to improve security at the park and initial work will begin in the summer with railings and gates remade to original designs. The major development and restoration of the rest of the park will begin in spring 2003.

Plans will include restoring its bandstand, terracotta fountain, and cafe and refurbishing its centrepiece lake.

A sensory garden will also be created in the park so people with disabilities can also enjoy the area.

Public access will be improved, new educational facilities built and an adventure playground created for young visitors.

There are also plans to make a ball park and skate board park.

It is hoped that the restoration and development work will be completed by summer 2004, but the park will remain open to the public throughout the work.

Dorothy Long, Darlington council's cabinet member for leisure said: "We have had to wait a long time before being able to make this announcement and I would like to thank everyone for their patience, support, and in many cases, hard work.

"I know it will be worth it. We have grand plans for the restoration of South Park - it is a truly wonderful place and once restored it will be a major attraction and facility for local people and for visitors to the town ."