Plans for a long-awaited skate park in Thetford have been given approval by planning officials.

The project had been requested by youngsters in the town for some years and neared reality when Moving Thetford Forward contributed funding.

The park, which will be built at the back of Breckland Leisure Centre, be unsupervised with lights on a timer to define when it will be closed, and see-through fencing will be erected.

Access will be from Croxton Road, along an existing path across the front of the Keystone Development Trust, with a new path around a new car park to be built.

Speaking at Monday’s meeting of Breckland Planning Committee, councillors discussed at length whether there was a need for acoustic fencing to prevent sound from carrying to nearby houses and businesses.

A decision on whether to erect this was delegated to officers.

Once built, ownership of the skate park will be handed to Thetford Town Council.