A GARDEN in honour of punk legend Captain Sensible has been created from a derelict scrap of land off of South Norwood High Street.
A team of volunteers organised by the Crystal Palace Transition Town and South Norwood Tourist Board have got together to cleared and transformed the land in between the two advertising billboards just past the Goat House bridge entrance of South Norwood High Street.
A bench named The Sensible Seat will be the focal point of the land, named after the Damned's Captain Sensible, a former Stanley Tech (now Harris Academy South Norwood) pupil.
Captain Sensible, real name Ray Burns, paid tribute to the team of volunteers, saying: "May I send a hearty thanks to all volunteers who contributed in making this forgotten part of South Norwood just that little bit less grim.
"I'd have been there myself to help of course but my back was playing me up that day, and I was busy listening to Phil Collins records too."
The Crystal Palace fan, who also sang the Big Break theme tune, will unveil his bench at 2pm next Saturday(July 26).
Volunteers, led by Crystal Palace Transition Town's Robert Gibson, have been meeting on Sundays and Wednesdays to clear the land which they want the community to enjoy.
Jason Cooper, of the South Norwood Tourist Board, said the groups want SE25 residents to know the land is as much theirs as anyone else's.
He said: "It won't have any managers, we just want to get it into a state in which people can enjoy it. It can be whatever the community wants it to be.
"It would be a great shame if it got back into the state it was in before but, if it does, then we will know the community don't want it."
The gang of amateur gardeners have been meeting with their shovels, rakes and black bags before heading off to The Ship pub on the high street for a debrief and pints.
Fly-tipped debris and even items such as fridges and baths were among the items they found when clearing the land.
Students at Harris Academy South Norwood will run take part in a gardening club on the land and the groups have installed a path to make it wheelchair-accessible.
