PILGRIMS HATCH: Bishops Hall community clean-up

GREEN-FINGERED residents can be proud of a job well done after mucking in for the benefit of their community.

Organised by the Pilgrims Hatch Partnership, the community joined forces on Sunday for an environmental action day to clean up the area around Bishops Hall.

Armed with everything from litter-pickers to garden shears, residents, councillors, council workers, police and firefighters came together to tackle overgrown bushes and graffiti-smeared walls.

The Pilgrims Hatch Partnership is a two-year project in its infancy. It brings together various agencies such as the council and the police with residents and local businesses to improve the area.

Project co-ordinator Tracey Lilley says the key to the partnership is responding to residents' concerns.

"Sunday was brilliant," she said. "There were more than 60 people, so it was really positive.

"People in Pilgrims Hatch really like their environment, so it was one area they wanted to look at.

"They worked really hard and it was lovely to see the fire service getting involved as well. They came along in their engines to help cut down the hedges.

"Seeing the real changes in the Bishops Hall area was brilliant. There was a real community spirit."

Among those involved was Brentwood Liberal Democrat party leader and ward councillor David Kendall, who is also a member of the partnership.

He said: "It was a great turnout by local residents of all ages, right across Pilgrims Hatch.

"Everyone worked together as a team and there was a real sense of achievement when we had finished.

"It was a case of getting people to take more pride in their local area and feeling they could do something to improve it."