National Grid volunteers spruce up Finsbury Park

A team of National Grid volunteers took time out from working on the flagship London Power Tunnels project to help clear up Finsbury Park.

More than 20 engineers swapped hard hats for wellington boots as they joined

local London Wildlife Trust staff for the event this month.

The project team worked on various tasks in the park including cutting back

vegetation around the Oxford Road entrance to the park to improve accessibility

and visibility for park users, removing weeds from the shrub beds around the

central play area and installing bird and bat boxes around the northern section

of the park.

The event was part of the project team's Environment Week initiative, which

involved having an extra focus on eco-friendly practices and activities.

National Grid's Head of Cable Tunnels, Dave Luetchford was one of those

helping out.

He said: "National Grid is committed to the areas in which it works and

events like Environment Week provide the perfect platform for our team to

contribute in a really positive and long-term way to the local area.

"It

is important to us that as well as working to improve London's electricity

infrastructure, we also leave behind a local legacy above ground for everyone to

enjoy."

Haringey Councillor Nilgun Canver, Cabinet Member for the Environment, said:

"Our parks are very precious and it's fantastic when people give

up their time to help us keep them looking really good. The recent long periods

of rain mean that weeds have thrived making it very difficult to keep on top of

things before the next cloudburst makes mowing or weeding impossible. I thank

the engineers for their help and all the volunteers and Friends of Parks who

help with the upkeep."

The London Power Tunnels project is a major National Grid scheme that

involves the construction of a 32km subterranean electricity superhighway deep

beneath the capital's busy streets.