School children in Exeter are celebrating the opening of their £85,000 multi-use games area following a massive fundraising effort.

Ide Primary School was awarded a £52,000 grant from Devon Waste Management and the school contributed £20,000 to the scheme. The remainder came from other grants, donations and fundraising initiatives including money from local county councillor Alan Connett’s community fund.

The full amount was raised within nine months. Both Exeter City FC and Exeter Chiefs backed the project.

The games area will be used by children from the village school and members of the community.

Ide headteacher Sean Millar said: "We are immensely grateful to parents, staff and governors who have all come together to raise money for this facility. In addition, we are hoping the village of Ide will benefit from access to the area for activities such as tennis.”

The games area was officially opened by cllr Connett and Andrew Vickery from Devon Waste Management. Group commercial director Steve Hadley said: “This was a substantial fundraising effort and we were delighted to help. It’s great to see this community project will benefit so many people.”