VILLAGERS will soon be able to enjoy a free outdoor exercise centre after grants were secured by the parish council.

Orders have been placed for outdoor gym equipment in Tillingham after Tillingham Parish Council received grant money from Essex County Council and the Bradwell Windfarm Community Fund.

It is hoped the gym will be installed as soon as the end of March, allowing villagers to enjoy the benefits of the gym without having to pay.

The gym will be located just off Vicarage Lane on land owned by the Parish Council.

Councillor, Kevin Knight believes it is great news for the village.

He said: “We carried out a consultation about the idea a few months back and everyone we spoke to seemed really positive about the idea.

“I think it is a great idea. We are all being told we need to do more exercise and we all want to do more. This is a great way to held that as everybody will be able to use the equipment without having to pay for it.

“Hopefully now we can crack on and get it up and running ready for everybody to use.”

Parish council chairman, Robert Harvey added: “We hope to have everything in place by the end of March. Thanks to the grants we have received it means it won’t cost the village a lot, we will just be making up the shortfall of a few hundred pounds.

“If there are grants available we have always been of the mind set of applying for them so that we can improve our village. That is down to the fantastic work of our clerk Sheila Welham. She has put in all the work to make this possible.”