AYR’S Belleisle Park has won a prestigious Green Flag Award.

It was announced that the park had received the honour from Keep Scotland Beautiful who celebrated the park’s roaring success story.

The award has recognised Belleisle as a benchmark for recreational outdoor space.

It celebrates well maintained parks, greenspaces and the opportunities that the park provides to enable excercise, improve mental wellbeing and provide safer spaces for children. In Scotland 71 parks have been presented with the award.

Councillor Ian Cochrane, Enviroment Portfolio Holder for South Ayrshire Council, said: “I am delighted that Belleisle Park has been recognised with a Heritage Award and Green Flag Award status. These awards underline our commitment to protecting and enhancing our parks and green spaces.

“We have invested over £5.4 million in Belleisle Park over the last five years with assistance from the Heritage Lottery fund.

“There has been a lot of attention on restoring the park’s key features and we have worked closely with partners such as the Friends of Belleisle and the Belleisle Conservatory Group who helped bring the conservatory back to its former glory.

“We have also restored the walled garden as well as the main entrance and there’s a new visitor hub which was built with stone from a derelict stable block.

“Visitor numbers have more than doubled to well over 200,000 and I have no doubt this recognition will encourage even more people to visit the park and witness the transformation for themselves.”

Derek Robertson, Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, commented: “Receiving this prestigious international benchmark recognises all of the hard work that has gone into maintaining and managing this precious green openspace.”