A TOP councillor has praised a community project for showing off "all that is best about St Helens".

The salute from Councillor Alma Atherton came as council, Police and community leaders gathered at the official launch of the refurbished Church Estate Tenants and Residents Association (CETRA) centre in Haydock.

At the launch, Alma, the cabinet member for urban regeneration and housing, said she had been impressed with the tremendous energy and positive community spirit in Haydock.

"It is an excellent example of partner agencies and people working together to reinforce the strong community spirit and all that is best about St Helens," she said.

Karen Hazelden, secretary at CETRA said "The centre is a very exciting project and one which will benefit the community. The CETRA committee is thrilled to see the opening of the centre and must thank all the residents and agencies for their support.

"We would like to thank the Chamber for playing an important and necessary role in bringing forward and supporting this very worthwhile project.

"A special thank you to Mr Patrick and Julie Farhey for all the support over the last 18 months and for believing in our capabilities to make this project possible.

"Also a thanks to all the young people from Haydock Youth Project who initially went into the building and cleared the site to enable St Helens Chamber to start the refurbishment work."

The building was completely refurbished by St Helens Chamber's New Deal team.

The centre received significant funding from the Coalfields Regeneration Trust.