Skateboarders in Witney and nearby villages will have a skatepark by next summer.

The £50,000 skatepark will be built by Witney Town Council, which is seeking some funding from West Oxfordshire District Council, at The Leys recreation ground in the town.

After a campaign by young people in the area, the town council set up a working party and held a taster day for skateboarders to try out various ramps.

Witney town and district councillor Louise Chapman said: "The tennis courts on The Leys are not used to their maximum capacity so we're going to use two of them for a skateboard park.

"The Leys is an ideal location as there are already other recreation facilities there and it's far away enough from properties not to cause a problem with noise."

Fellow town and district councillor Peter Green, who has made some initial designs for the skatepark, said: "A total of 174 came and looked at the designs.

"They want their own place where they can skateboard in safety, without creating a nuisance.

"It's a comparatively new sport. I suspect that when parents take their children to a skatepark, they'll want to have a bit of a go as well."