The people of Flushing turned out in force to the official opening of the village's new pirate ship play area on Saturday when five hours of fun and entertainment was laid on for participants of all ages.

Proving playgrounds aren't just for the young, but also the young at heart, Nick Trefusis was one of the first to take a trip down the slide, although he did suffer something of a bumping landing.

The new play area on the Bowling Green has replaced the old, run down equipment that was removed earlier this year. The project came about after mums of children at the local school got together over a year ago with the aim of replacing the old wooden pirate ship in the park.

Mother-of-two Rachael Pashley set up the Friends of Flushing Bowling Green, and with support from other parents, set about raising the necessary money. A grant of £85,000 from the SITA Cornwall Trust gave the project a real boost and accompanied money raised through village events and local benefactors.

After weeks of anticipation, the new play area was officially opened on Saturday afternoon by Mr Trefusis and Betty Hale, a trustee of SITA Cornwall Trust, was one of the guests of honour, and was presented with a bouquet of flowers. Families came out to bask in the sunshine and enjoy the activities and entertainment laid on.

"It was brilliant," said Rachael. "We couldn't ask for a better day, everyone had a fab time, amazing atmosphere with great music and food, we drank the bar dry. It was lovely to hear the reaction of children seeing it for the first time, and the kids and adults all loved the park and played on it all afternoon. We had many requests for an annual event so watch this space."

Money raised on Saturday will go towards the next phase of the £140,000 project which will see the pavilion building replaced. It is hoped that, subject to planning consent being granted, work will start on this in September.