A POPULAR Bury park has been named one of the country's best.

Burrs Country Park has won a Much Loved Award at the UK's Best Park competition.

Out of 364 parks nominated for the competition Burrs finished in the top 20 per cent nationwide and in the top 10 in the North West ­— narrowly losing out on the number one spot.

It had been nominated for the awards by Laura Ettrick who wrote: “Burrs is a lovely place ­— a mixture of open spaces and woodlands, river, ponds and canal.

"It is excellent for walking, running, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, bird watching, nature study and picnicking. It has an excellent café and pub, and the heritage railway has a station in the park.”

The award was presented to members of the Friends of Burrs Country Park group by the Mayor of Bury, Cllr Trevor Holt, and his wife Evelyn, at a special ceremony.

Made up of a collection of residents and park users, the group is responsible for community management of the park as local authority funding is phased out.

They also work with the Bury Voluntary Ranger Service and the Burrs Gardening Group to develop the park for the future.

The UK's Best Park competition was run by the Fields in Trust ­— a UK-wide charity that legally protects parks and green spaces in perpetuity ­— and aimed to recognise the role parks play in communities, supporting mental and physical health and bring people together.

Helen Griffiths, Fields in Trust chief executive, said: “Our parks and green spaces are a vital part of UK community infrastructure.

"We know that they provide benefits to the physical health, mental wellbeing and community connections for people that use them, so we are delighted to see a record number of nominations for the UK’s Best Park award and it is encouraging to see so many people organising picnics with neighbours to celebrate how much they love their local park.

"Fields in Trust is committed to protecting these valuable and much-loved parks and green spaces for future generations to enjoy.”

The North West's number one park in the 2019 competition was Stanley Park in Blackpool, which also went on to take the overall title, beating green spaces from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

For more information or to join the Friends of Burrs Country Park visit sites.google.com/view/friendsofburrscountrypark.