NEW allotments in High-worth have been deemed a huge success and have helped to bring the community together.

Earlier this year, 100 new plots were opened at the end of Park Avenue, clearing a waiting list that some people had been on for almost seven years.

Thanks to the hard work of plot holders, the land, which was just soil in May, has been transformed into a haven of vegetables.

Highworth Town Council clerk David Lane said: “They have been a brilliant success, they instantly took off.

“A lot of work went into clearing the ground and they have completely changed the area. The success has been so good, with this allotment we managed to clear the waiting list but we are already getting a new list.

“It is important for the community to have the facility. A lot of people get down there and there is a sense of community, it is brilliant.

“Every council has a duty to supply allotments if there is a need and councils throughout England have been inundated by requests.”

Two allotments have also been made available to Highworth and Warneford School to give the children lessons in gardening and provide produce for the kitchen.

The Highworth Comm-unity Project Group has also set up a course to help people grow their own vegetables.

It is hoped the allotments will become completely self-sufficient when a well is built on the site, allowing holders to water their plots more easily.

“One of the things we wanted to achieve with the allotments was for them to be as green and sustainable as possible,” David said.

“To create water for the site we put in bore holes, which I want to say was an instant success, but there were teething problems.

“With the dry winter we had a reduced water table, which made pumping the water harder than people wanted.”

Allotment holder, Marjorie Saunders, who won first place for her beetroots at the Highworth Produce Fair this year said: “It is lovely to have this here and the soil is fantastic. Everything is growing so well I can’t keep up with it.

“I was on the waiting list for two years before this site was opened and it is really nice.”

Adrian Shepherd, 31, of Evencroft, had been on the waiting list for four years.

He said: “It is brilliant because we live in a flat so we don’t have a garden. We have a young son, so it is nice to have this space to come out and work on with him.

“People are starting to use the allotments already and there is a real buzz amongst the allotment holders.”