ESTATE residents pitched in for a garden challenge and transformed a derelict piece of land into a community haven.

Green-fingered volunteers who worked on Hag Fold's Dorset Road Community Centre site unveiled their handiwork.

Originally, digging began on a Right to Learn gardening course funded by the SRB5 Atherton Building Communities Fund, but the project expanded as more people wanted to learn about working the land and the group realised it could create a garden gem for everyone.

A grant for £1,000 from Wigan Council's People and Places Scheme was used to buy plants, sand and topsoil.

The Arts for Elders Group, Prince's Trust Volunteers, a team from the Orchards Day Centre and a group of local police officers have all dug in to create the garden.

But it is the estate residents who took the challenge to heart and locals Harold Bough and Jimmy Grant volunteered to maintain the project while work was in progress and will continue to do so.