WORK to improve Exeter Close and make it a focal point for Kidlington has finally finished after 12 months.

The parish council has overseen the £250,000 project to expand the pavilion at the football pitch, update the two tennis courts, construct new footpaths and cycle routes, and buy equipment for multimedia projects, such as film and photography, to run in Exeter Hall.

Parish chairman Chris Pack said the aim of the project was to create a new heart to the village with better integration between the shops and the leisure activities at Exeter Close.

He said: “We wanted to give Exeter Close more of a community focus and create more of a civic park environment.”

As part of the project, Sport England South East awarded £100,000 to Kidlington Forum Table Tennis Club, based at Exeter Close, to extend its pavilion.

Club coach Carl Bushell said that before the extension work, players used the youth club to practise and hired other venues for competitive matches.

He said the new pavilion provided the club, which has topped the Oxford League division one championship for six years running, with room for three county standard tables, as well as better facilities for football teams. He added: “We’re arguably the strongest club in the county and week after week we make the headlines in the Oxford Mail.”

The rest of the project was paid for by a grant totalling £120,000 from the South East England Development Agency and a substantial contribution by local taxpayers’ via the parish council.

Mr Pack, who retired from Cherwell District Council last month, said: “We have opened up Exeter Close to the village and created a new hub of the community.

“We’re delighted with the results and we have heard a lot of very favourable comments about it.”

At the entrance to the site, the main hedge bordering the road has been pruned and dead trees removed to improve access and visibility from Oxford Road.

The new site will be officially unveiled at the summer gala on Saturday, July 18. BBC Radio Oxford presenter Bill Heine has been invited to cut the ribbon.

Further improvements to Exeter Close, which is the home of the parish council, will include rebuilding the health centre and children's centre, and expanding Cherwell District Council’s One-Stop Shop.