SPORTS fans came out in force to Wanstead Flats to mark the opening of the area's shining new changing rooms complex.

Campaigners were delighted back in January 2008 when the Football Foundation group agreed to cough up a large chunk of the £1million needed to pay for the desperately-needed facilities at the site, which is used by hundreds of footballers and families every week.

Previously there was just one small and crumbling block which lacked a women's toilet and other key facilities.

As part of the celebrations on Wednesday (September 23), a large football tournament was held with local schools, with other fun activities including an inflatable speed tunnel and an inflatable football pitch.

Chairman of the City of London's Epping Forest and Commons Committee Barbara Newman said: "The new changing rooms are a testament to our commitment to maintaining sporting facilities in Epping Forest to the highest standard.

"We hope that footballers who frequently use the Flats, some of whom could be David Beckhams of tomorrow, will fully utilise the new facilities. We also welcome the local community to take advantage of the new communal meeting rooms. Bookings already coming in and we are off to a good start .”

Football has been played on the flats ever since the 1940s, when troops fighting in World War Two used the area as a stopping off point while they were in transit to other countries.

Other funding bodies funding the building include the Mercers Company, the London Marathon Trust, Charles French Charitable Trust, Grange Farm Centre Trust and Coutts Charitable Trust.