Volunteers have given a taste of what is to come after completing the first phase of work to enhance a popular playing field.

A team of volunteers from the county council’s Countryside Management Service (CMS) together with corporate volunteers from the Herts-based Mace Group planted a new native hedgerow of shrubs including hawthorn, hazel and guelder rose along the boundary of Victoria Playing Field in St Albans.

Planting the shrubs, which were chosen because they would provide food for local wildlife, is the start of a much larger project which will see the play area replaced and upgraded next year.

Earlier last month CMS also arranged a bulb planting event with local families helping to plant more than 5,000 bulbs in a day.

The work is supported by the district council using developer contributions and funding from local ward budgets and has been backed by a successful crowd-funding campaign led by a local community group, the Friends of Victoria Playing Field.

Their campaign raised £26,000 from local people and businesses, which will go towards the work.

Teresa Heritage, the county council’s cabinet member for public health, localism and libraries, said: “This is a fantastic example of a community contributing their time, skills and enthusiasm to help enhance their local area. I’d like to thank CMS for its valuable role in coordinating and supporting the voluntary groups involved.”