An “eyesore” area of Westcliff is set to be transformed into a lively and green “pocket park” by more than 200 volunteers.

Grassroots Westcliff is a volunteer led group who are on a mission to enhance Westcliff by taking unloved and derelict spots and transforming them into well-designed, professional looking green spaces, called “pocket parks”.

Once complete they include raised flower beds, colour coordination and plants to encourage biodiversity.

The group is undertaking a reconstruction job of neglected land in Crowstone Road close to The Trading Room pub.

They claim the current site, has been “neglected for 20 years”.

Grassroots Westcliff chairperson, Alan Hardiman, 39, said: “The space opposite The Trading Room Pub had a pocket park, and it has been neglected and left to waste away so our group is taking proactive action about these spots.

“This has been a one-year effort, the job is our second of these projects and for the rest of the year we have eight more projects, we just put a shout out to our members to see where they want to enhance things.

“We always try to do this based on high footfall to make a statement that people do care about these spaces, we don’t want it to look amateur, because if it looks bad it doesn’t make that statement, we want the parks to look proper and we have a landscape designer who plans where we are going to put raised beds and the colour coordination.”

The current operation is happening with the support of Southend Council Parks department and relies on residents collecting materials, reviewing project plans, storing materials and doing the manual labour.

“It takes a village,” Alan added.

“The idea is never just about planting a few pretty plants, it is firstly about making a statement and sending a signal and about boosting community spirit, which there is no doubt we have achieved.

“My favourite thing about the experience is watching people connect with each other having not met before.”

Grassroots Westcliff can be found on Facebook.