It is full speed ahead for Porthleven's new skatepark thanks to a £75,000 grant from Sport England.

In a highly competitive process, with more than 600 applicants, Porthleven Town Council was today told officially it had been successful in its bid for its 'wheeled sports facility' to cater for cyclists and skateboarders - one of just eight projects to be awarded money in the south west.

Zoe Davies, who was the lead bid writer, said: “The award of £75,000 allows us to finally realise our dream of a much needed modern skate park in Porthleven. When the Skate Park Funding Raising Committee was set up, we knew the £120,000 total was realistic because we had the whole community with us."

Mayor of Porthleven Barbara Powell said: "The young people deserve this new wheel sports facility. It has been made possible because everyone had worked together to make this happen. I also had the pleasure of signing the official offer letter on behalf of Porthleven Town Council and the fundraising committee."

The £120,000 project is made possible with matched funding of £20,000 by Porthleven Town Council and an impressive £22,120 raised from within the community, with Porthleven Surf Club, Cober Valley Rotary Club, Porthleven Food Festival and Helstonbury all raising over £1,000.

Today's announcement means there is just £5,800 still to raise.

Mark Adair, who is leading the charge on raising the remaining money, said: "We are confident that we will raise the remaining £5,800 in no time at all, the support we have had so far has been unbelievable, so we feel we can push on and raise the rest.

"The committee have been working on a number of ideas which we will start to put into action over the coming weeks - join our Facebook group 'Porthleven Skate Park Project' to see how you can get involved.

"If you would like to make a donation you can via our website www.porthlevenskatepark.co.uk"

Porthleven's deputy mayor Andrew Wallis, who is the town council link with the fundraising committee, said: “When I was informed of the successful bid by Sport England I could hardly believe it. The competition for funding was highly competitive and Sport England liaison officer said the Porthleven bid was a very strong one, and showed true community involvement.

"For me, this successful bid is down to the hard work of Zoe Davies, Naomi Osmond, Dai Lawton and Mark Adair who have spent many hours making sure this bid was perfect. Well done indeed."