KIDS play equipment could be significantly upgraded as the council has been offered a substantial grant to bring it back into use.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents declared the equipment in Hockley Woods play area was "either requiring immediate replacement, and hence has been closed down, or requiring replacement in the near future."

Now, the district council has been offered a grant worth £45,000 from the Cory Environmental Trust to repair the playground and the executive committee will meet tonight to decide whether to accept it.

The council’s member for the environment councilor Dave Sperring said: “I’m sure local families will be glad to hear that we have been offered funds to improve the playground at Hockley Woods.

“The consultation we held about this area attracted 324 responses in just a week, which shows just how much people care. I would like to offer thanks to all those who took part as this had a large part to play in our funding application.”

However, some residents are disappointed that not all equipment will get the same treatment.

Linda Kendall, 68, of the Rayleigh Action Group, said: “It was nice of the trust to grant the funds but why haven’t they applied for grants to fix any other parks? All the councillors live in Hockley or Rochford. It’s par for the course that every benefit goes there.

“I can’t envisage people from Rayleigh using it. It’s not many miles but there’s so many parks in Rayleigh in disrepair.”

Hockley ward councillor Adrian Eves says more could be on the horizon.

He said: “It’s good for the district as it provides somewhere for families to go outside. As this grant has come up, it would be foolish not to take it. We can’t take all parks on at once and I imagine the portfolio holder was prioritising them.”