A coastal park has undergone a huge refurbishment but visitors will have to wait to use its cafe.

The 40-acre Barton’s Point, between Minster and Sheerness on Sheppey, has been revamped with two bridges, a new toilet block and five benches.

Visitors have been without a toilet block since the previous facilities were knocked down last year.

The refurbishments have cost Swale council a total of £158,056.

The majority of this was spent on the new toilet block, which cost £140,703 after being knocked down and rebuilt.

A further £11,654 was spent on two wooden bridges, with another £5,699 going towards five new picnic benches.

Swale Independents’ Cllr Elliott Jayes says it is a great first step for visitors.

The Sheppey Central representative said: “As a councillor on the Island, I want to see improvements and so I’m really happy with what’s been done.

“As a coalition, we’ve tried to do as much as we can during the past four years and this is one of the things we’ve looked at.

“We’ve also got toilets at Sheerness due to open soon, too - residents at Beachfields haven’t had toilets properly close to the beach there for the best part of 15 years.

“So it’s a case of fixing some of the things that were affected by what happened before the coalition, and this is one of them.”

Residents have also shared their appreciation with the developments.

One explained: “This is great news. Barton’s Point is such a lovely area for families and friends to get together.

“It was in need of a bit of TLC, so it’s good to see this happening at last.”

Another person commented: “This is awesome - it’s slowly getting there.”

However, people wishing to enjoy the park’s Boathouse Cafe will have to wait a little bit longer for it to reopen.

The cafe stopped serving customers in December when the 10-year concession with previous park operator, Mandy Shade, came to an end and its licence was not renewed.

Although it has remained closed ever since, it was revealed earlier this summer it was to reopen under a new operator.

They are expected to take over the cafe and the park, including the site’s lake, car park and children’s playground.

A council spokesman added: “We’re still working on the lease, so there’s not a lot to say until that’s all agreed and signed.”

One resident admits they were disappointed it had not been able to reopen sooner.

“It is a crying shame this facility looks set to be closed through the summer and the school holidays,” they said.

“So many people, like myself and my family, will be sad if this is the case.”