PETROCKSTOWE is to get a revamped, safe car park and an office to print the parish newsletter as the Big Lottery Fund announced a grant of £39,408 to improve village life.

The grant from BIG's Reaching Communities programme will enable Petrockstowe Parish to improve and expand its

village hall and car park.

With this award, the local car park will be made safe for the community to get to the village hall,

children's play area, church and chapel. The car park will be levelled to eliminate standing water and create a surface safe for older, young and disabled people to use.

In addition, an office extension to the village hall will be built to house printing and copying

facilities for production of the free parish newspaper. The office will also

provide printing and copying facilities and archival storage for important

village documentation.

The newspaper is currently produced in the hall's kitchen and

documents are stored in bathroom cupboards.

William Luxton, chairman, Petrockstowe Parish, said: "We were delighted to receive this grant. These are projects we have only been able to think about as the costs involved were simply too great for a small village like ours to meet. Now thanks to the Big Lottery Fund we can improve the facilities for the good of the village, something we never thought would be possible."

Mark Cotton, Head of Region for the South West, said: "This project will make a positive difference to the village of Petrockstowe. With this Reaching Communities grant from BIG, the hall, the centre of village life, will be transformed, along with the car park, into a safe environment for the community which will encourage more people to use it. We are delighted to support this project to help a community in need."