A new golf course in Rainham that has been described as ‘great news’ for locals, will be open within weeks.

The New Road course’s flood-lit driving range and nine-hole mini links golf course, are almost complete, although final work has been delayed slightly by the recent driving rain.

But that didn’t put off course mastermind Alan Walker, PGA pro Nick Moncur, and Cllr Jeff Tucker from taking a walk around the site recently (pictured).

The project has been around seven years in the planning, and will eventually have three, nine-hole, courses and a clubhouse.

Alan Walker, the designer of the course, said: “The idea was to create a facility for the people of Rainham, it will hopefully create more jobs and it will be a state of the art facility.”

The former PGA Master Professional, and past PGA captain added: “I’ve been involved since the early stages, when it was a project where it was being thought about what facility could benefit the people of Rainham.”

Cllr Jeff Tucker (Independent Residents’ Association, Rainham and Wennington) said: “It’s great news for residents. I think it will increase property prices and the quality of life in the area.”