Allotments in Sheffield flourishing again after being hit by arsonists and vandals

Stubbin Allotments near Firth Park date back to at least the end of the Second World War, when returning soldiers dug in to help fill local larders amidst ongoing rationing.

Its proud heritage had taken a bit of a battering in recent years, after vandals torched a shed, smashed up produce and looted equipment.

But its fortunes are looking up after Sheffield Council ploughed in around £16,000, topped up with more than £3,000 raised by plot holders themselves, to improve security and facilities at the site.

The money paid for fencing, new gates, lighting to be installed, rubbish to be cleared and fresh pipes to be laid to fix the leaky water supply.

Jason Seymour, who sits on the allotment society committee, told how the investment had reinvigorated the site and given allotment holders a welcome boost.

"We're one of the oldest sites in Sheffield with our own trade hut, which was set up to sell gardening supplies to people on low incomes, but there hadn't been any investment for many years and that was beginning to show," he said.

"About five years ago I had a wooden hut which was burned down to the ground, and we've had people come in and smash stuff up or pinch things numerous times in recent years.

"The improvements have made people feel more secure and given them a bit more land to play with because a lot of the junk that's accumulated over the years was cleared.

"They can now plant more produce and do so safe in the knowledge they're not going to return in the morning and find it all ripped up. It's given the whole site that bit of a kick up the backside which it needed."

Stubbin Allotments on Verdant Way has 36 plots, all of which are occupied, and there is a small waiting list.