Back in February Havering Council removed the final piece of play equipment from the Blake Close playground and the community raised this with the MP. Following this, local residents Adeel Akhtar and Julia Offord Pearman, selected to stand for Labour in South Hornchurch at next year’s council election, launched a petition to fully restore the site.

After the initial inquiry went in back in March the council explained that works to replace the slide were in progress. It was this response that spurred the campaign, and the team mobilised local people to call on the council for real investment into the site.

This week following pressure from the Labour Action Team, Havering Council have announced that funding has been made available to regenerate the playground with new play equipment for local families and children.

After learning that works are due to take place in the coming weeks Adeel and Julia said: “We are incredibly pleased with this outcome. Back in March we were devastated to see how neglected the site was. It was clear from speaking to local people that there was a real strength of feeling about getting the playground restored. There are a lot of families in the area and this result will make a real difference to their lives.”