Nottinghamshire County Council held a competition for folk to come up with ideas for a £5,000 project to improve their environment and has now picked the ideas it will carry out.

One suggestion from each district will be completed under the Building Better Communities programme, including the creation of a pathway and gates on the Mansfield Walkway, off Quarry Lane, and planting and landscape works around Bilsthorpe village centre and the War Memorial.

Said council chairman Coun John Allin: "This competition has received a very positive response from local people who have had the opportunity to have a direct input into funding for schemes in their neighbourhood."

And Brian Lohan, chairman of the Friends of Quarry Lane in Mansfield, told Chad the group was working to improve the area and aimed to apply for more funding.

He said: "It is not just about improving the environment, it is about being a community. There is so much history around that area that I don't want to lose it."