All Cannings resident Eve Clarke thought the people in her village needed more exercise, so she contacted the National Lottery.

And on Saturday 75-year-old Mrs Clarke was able to see her work come to fruition when Wiltshire Council fitness instructor Rosie Golding showed local people how to use the all-weather equipment she had managed to get for them.

She said: “I have lived overlooking The Green for over 30 years and I see people coming there to take fresh air and exercise.

“When I was in Manchester I saw this kind of equipment and I thought, that’s just what we need in All Cannings.”

Mrs Clarke got permission from the parish council to approach the National Lottery and she made an application through the Big Lottery Fund.

She said: “I had to go all round the village and ask people what they thought of it. Most thought it was a brilliant idea.”

Earlier this year she was delighted to hear that her bid for more than £8,000 for five pieces of adult fitness equipment was successful. Villagers can now use the rowing machine, cross trainer, treadmill and weights machines any time of the day or night they choose.

Mrs Clarke said: “There are some who come first thing in the morning and others who prefer to wait until dark so no one can see them.

“The children will hop on and off before and after school but the equipment is for people of all ages.

“It feels like I have won the Lottery myself. I can put my porridge on in the morning, pop out and do ten minutes on the equipment and then come back to eat it.

“I think every village should have something like this. People have to get in the car and drive to the gym, but they can just come to the Green and get fit without driving.

“I don’t know what it’ll be like in the depths of winter, but at the moment the equipment is proving very popular.”