Skates and BMX riders welcome new park in Lowestoft

Hayley MaceSkateboarders and BMX riders showed off their skills to mark the opening of Lowestoft's new skate park yesterday.Park East, which has been built at Normanston Park, features concrete ramps, runs and jumps to challenge and excite even the most fearless of extreme sports fans.Hayley Mace

Skateboarders and BMX riders showed off their skills to mark the opening of Lowestoft's new skate park yesterday.

Park East, which has been built at Normanston Park, features concrete ramps, runs and jumps to challenge and excite even the most fearless of extreme sports fans.

About 100 enthusiasts rode and skated their way round the park yesterday during informal competitions and demonstrations.

The state-of-the-art facility, which cost about �200,000, was officially opened by Waveney District Council leader Mark Bee and Nigel Pinnick-Smith, chairman of Extreme Adrenaline Sports Together (EAST).

The commemorative plaque on the site displays quotes from world-famous skateboarder Tony Hawk.

Local skaters and riders helped to design the park through the EAST consultation group. The funding for the scheme came from the Big Lottery Fund's Children's Play Programme, the Waste Recycling and Environmental Group, Suffolk Environmental Trust and Lowestoft Together.

Over the first weekend of opening, more than 350 people visited the new skate park, coming from as far afield as Chelmsford.