MORE than 130 children and their parents, carers and grandparents celebrated the opening of Ilkley's new not-for-profit soft play area on Saturday.

The official opening day of Dan's Den at Riddings Hall in Christchurch, The Grove, was declared a success.

The event started with the arrival of a Dan's Den celebration cake, lovingly baked by Anne Marie Hall from the Tesco store in Ilkley, and the play centre was officially opened by Ashlands Primary School pupils at 9.30am. Sophia Whitton declared it open and the ribbon was cut by Alex Jowett.

Ilkley Town Crier, Isabel Hogan, gave a special shout out along The Grove, accompanied by the Dan's Den namesake Daniel and the new centre's friendly lion mascot.

The team behind the centre raised £300,000 to achieve the dream of having a play facility within the local community accessible to everyone.