A national charity has named Belfast City Council 'Local Authority of the Year'.

Fields in Trust awarded the Council, in partnership with the local community, to help preserve Cregagh Green, the open space where George Best first played football.

Earlier this year, the Green was the first project in the UK to be awarded funding by the London Marathon Charitable Trust, as part of The Active Spaces Forever programme, delivered in partnership with Fields in Trust.

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Alderman Tommy Sandford, Chairman of the Council's People and Communities Committee, who is from Cregagh, said: "This is a great honour for Belfast City Council. Cregagh Green is very close to my heart, coming from and representing this area, and I would like to thank Fields in Trust for recognising the work of the Council and local community together in bringing this space to life with a range of activities organised through the Active Spaces Forever programme."

(CD)