AN allotment set up to help children and adults with disabilities is back in business, more than a year after vandals and thieves ruined the site.

Plot 46 at Glen Allotments near Tang Hall school has been transformed thanks to the hard work, dedication, and generosity of a small group of volunteers.

The allotment was set up to help children and families with disabilities enjoy gardening, but suffered a series of major blows at the hands of vandals and thieves who damaged sheds and fences and stole tools, in 2013.

The site fell out of use, and over 2014 became more and more overgrown, and all the hard work and fundraising for the site seemed to have been undone, until earlier this year a team of volunteers decided to put the damage right and bring the allotment back up to scratch.

The rebuilt the raised beds - designed especially so that children using wheelchairs can get around easily and reach across the beds - and filled them with soil so they are now ready for would-be gardeners to move in.

Now half of the site has been taken over by a nearby Beavers group, and the other half is available for families.

Allotments chairman Barry Bothamley said: "The Beavers from Stockton Lane scouts are doing a good job on their half, and we have around four raised beds available for any families with disabled children who want to have a go at gardening.

"The beds are ready for flowers, or vegetables, or anything else you want to plant in them."

Barry along with volunteers Mac Mitchell, Rob Vasey and others have thanked the other helpers and sponsors who have made the renovation possible.

They said they could not have turned the site around without the help of Portakabin, who as well as helping to rebuild the raised beds are now working on the renovation of another plot for nearby Tang Hall school, and are set to donate two refurbished Portakabin buildings for the children to use.