Rushden community garden built by students and wildlife trust

The Trust said the community garden was already making a huge difference to the local community

Construction students have teamed up with a nature reserve to grow wildlife-friendly plants and herbs for community food initiatives.

Moulton College in Northamptonshire has worked with the county's Wildlife Trust on the new community garden project at the Rushden Lakes shopping complex.

Local groups can now grow their own produce in wooden planters.

Carpentry lecturer Alan Turner said it had been "a fantastic opportunity for students to get hands-on experience".

It follows on from last year's Gateway Project which saw students team up with North Northamptonshire Council and others to deliver heritage-themed planters in the shape of a train.

Over the last few months, a group of Level 1 and Level 2 carpentry and bricklaying students, based at the college's campuses in Northampton and Higham Ferrers, have created new furniture and carried out maintenance work at Rushden Lakes and the neighbouring Nene Wetlands nature reserve.

Rushden Lakes said the community garden had previously been a flat concrete space

The projects included a new gate for the pond-dipping platform, benches and stools in the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust's education area, where the charity runs community group visits and family events.

The trust's Viktoria Marta said the students were "very dedicated" and the involvement of the college had "allowed us to get this project off the ground".

"We know that gardening is great for people's physical and mental wellbeing, as well as having the potential to be great for wildlife too," she said.

"It's great to see that it's already making a huge difference to members of the local community."

Donna French, centre manager at Rushden Lakes, said: "Having looked at a flat concrete space for three years, my idea was to have a community garden.

"I was delighted that the idea could come to fruition."