A PROPOSAL to open up a fenced-off field for the community has attracted widespread support.

Fourteen households have written to the council to back an application by the Wanstead Society to transform Evergreen Field in High Street.

And the society said 139 of 200 people recently surveyed on the future of the field supported its proposal.

The group claims the green space, which has been closed to the public for 15 years and is currently owned by Dalco Developments, should be accessible to all.

In one letter, Rajanikant Patel, of Warwick Road, said: "The groundwork done on the field would ensure the iconic views across Wanstead High Street to the Christ Church steeple is maintained."

While Philip Staniland, of Broadmead Road, Woodford Green wrote: "Currently the site is in a poor state and offers nothing but a place for rats and the like to breed."

Dalco hope to build homes and shops on the site, but Redbridge Council insists it can only be used for leisure purposes.

Spokesman for the Wanstead Society, Geoff Horsnell, said: "Given the result of our questionnaire to our membership I'm not surprised that so many people have written in showing their support. It is very gratifying."

The application will be discussed at the next meeting of the Conservation Advisory Panel on November 28.