Three months in the making and coming it at the cost of £250,000, the newly designed King George V skatepark opened its doors to skaters, bikers and scooters last week.

The project was delivered by North Herts Council in partnership with Groundwork East and has been shaped by local riders throughout the design process.

When this correspondent went down to visit the skatepark over the weekend its safe to say that it was proving popular with children and young adults - seemingly answering those who during the consultation phase asked for a more serious facility with more in common with that in Norton Common, Letchworth.

Poignantly a pedestal in the centre of the park is dedicated to Ben Patane (2007-2024) "the boy who loved to skate".

One big question for the council is how they will approach graffiti on the new park. Elsewhere designers have called in professional artists to decorate the facilities, sadly there was already small amounts of graffiti on display a few days into the new Hitchin park opening.

As users settle into the new facility it will be interesting to see how the different users co-exist on the site.

In the past the old park was a popular place for Strathmore kids to play after school.