VEGETABLES native to Bangladesh are flourishing in an allotment site lovingly tended by widows from Burnley.

Two years ago the allotment was a neglected piece of space filled with dumped rubbish on March Street near to Stoneyholme Primary School. Now it is Shabuj Shati -- the Green Fingers allotment project.

It took a year to clean up the land and another year to become a food-growing project thanks to a partnership of the Wildlife Trust, British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, the Bangladesh Welfare Association and the local women.

Daisy Choudhury, community development officer for the BWA and project co-ordinator, said: "The women are members of my luncheon club and they are all widows who lost their husbands in their 30s or 40s.

"They were all lonely ladies whose children had grown up and left home and they had extra time on their hands.

"Sometimes they would tell me about their illnesses and problems and so I arranged for an exercise club to start once a week at the infants school and then they said they needed more exercise so we got the allotment. There are eight women who tend to the site regularly. One suffered a lot with anxiety and depression before starting this and now she says after a day of gardening she feels really happy.

"Another has arthritis but says she forgets about it when she digs on the allotment and another lady is on dialysis but she works in the garden. "Crops are eaten or distributed to friends in the area. The garden has real therapeutic benefit."

Besides crops such as potatoes, tomatoes and radish, the allotment is also used to grow native Bangladesh vegetables which are not available in the shops locally.

Daisy is given a shopping list of seeds whenever she goes back home to visit Bangladesh.

She said: "Many of the houses that the local Bangladeshi community live in have no gardens, which means that the women get little exercise or fresh air.

"We originally rented the allotments from Burnley Council to help give the Bangladeshi women something physical and meaningful to do outside. I would like to see the project grow with more allotments being used to help further families if the funding can be found."

Money has so far come from the European Regional Development Fund and the single regeneration budget. The Wildlife Trust is supporting the project with staff.