STUBBINS residents can sit comfortably in the village's memorial garden thanks to a new bench with green credentials.

Stubbins Residents' Association bought the bench, which is made from recycled plastics, with the aid of a grant from Rossendale Borough Council.

It was installed free of charge by Stubbins firm B&E Boys, which owns the Cuba Industrial Park.

Councillor Darryl Smith said: "This is an excellent addition to the memorial garden. Although the garden already has some stone seating areas, they do not have any back support so are not really suitable for older people to sit on.

"Now that the garden has received a makeover courtesy of hard work by the residents' association, we thought it would be nice to have some suitable seating for people to sit and enjoy the garden."

Stubbins Residents' Association recently received a donation of £75 from Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate Jack Berry towards work for this year's North West in Bloom competition.

Mr Berry said: "I helped out last year at both the litter pick and when work was carried out in the Memorial Garden. It was fantastic to see how the whole village came together and how the Memorial Garden gave a focus to Remembrance Sunday. I was delighted to be involved and I just hope this donation goes some way to helping them achieve just as much, if not more, this year".