PARENTS showed true community spirit when it came to building a sports centre for their children's soccer team.

They spent more than a year clearing the site of rubbish and even emptied two drug dens of beer cans and used syringes.

Their work is exactly the type of project the Bolton Evening News is trying to encourage as part of our Pride of Bolton campaign.

It is a perfect example of people pulling together to improve their local environment and to create opportunities for others.

Warren Barlow, a spokesman for the Ladybridge Football Club, said its new home in Tempest Road, Lostock, was a credit to the volunteers' hard work and dedication.

He said: "These volunteers are mainly parents of children who play for the club. They all have active lifestyles but have given their time without seeking any monetary gain. They have done this for the benefit of the community as a whole."

The club, which has 350 young players in 26 teams, had been looking for a permanent home for years.

Last year the parents secured a 50-year lease on the site and received permission for eight mini-pitches, a clubhouse, changing rooms and parking spaces.

They have raised £225,000 for the project and received a £97,000 cheque from Sport England. They are now trying to raise a final £5,000.

The Football Association has classified the club's new home as a county standard mini-soccer centre and the children will be able to host an FA festival of football for teams across Lancashire.

Mr Barlow said: "The club's chairman Steve Hill and all the volunteers have worked hard to make this project a success. They have all shown a bit of pride in their community.

"The ground has been landscaped and fruit trees have been planted to improve the ambience of the area. We have also cleared a footpath and will seek to protect the nearby woodland from future development.

"We hope to create a facility that will be used by the whole community."