WORK costing thousands of pounds has finally started to upgrade the Laburnum Road playing fields in Davenham.

It is phase one of a massive project organised by Davenham Parish Council on the whole field, which constantly gets waterlogged.

The field is also to be levelled off to eliminate the hollows and bumps, which cause the water to congregate and a drainage system is to be put underneath the field.

Davenham Parish Council chairman, Clr Arthur Wood is delighted the work has now started.

Clr Wood said: "We have been working on it off and on for a long time.

"We were hoping to have started last year but the weather was against us. There was no point when it was consistently wet."

Part of the field has now been sectioned off while the work is carried out and then the grass replanted.

That section is not expected to be open until the grass has taken, which will be sometime next year.

The money for phase one has been put aside by Davenham Parish Council in a fund it has been building up for a number of years.

Clr Wood said: "Unfortunately for some reason you can't apply for grants for this type of work but we already have Groundwork working on grants for phase two, which will be a toddlers' play area.

"We have had a long exercise consulting with the community, we went into schools and to the youth groups to ask what they wanted."

Clr Wood added: "We had to work our way to get something to benefit the whole community that wasn't detrimental in any way.

"I think we have got it."