Belvoirdale Primary School in Coalville has converted a once derelict wasteland into a community garden that has been five years in the making.

The community school welcomed members of the North West Leicestershire District Council to the opening of its new garden space in Lillehammer Drive on Friday (June 28).

Over 200 parents, together with their children and the school's pupils, gathered together with governors, local dignitaries and staff, to celebrate what is being described as 'a beautiful community garden' that has taken nearly five years to create.

After being little more than a derelict wasteland, the community garden now boasts an urban space in which vegetables and flowers will grow alongside the wellbeing of the 300 pupils, in a school that was recently praised by Ofsted for being an "inclusive, vibrant and happy, where pupils thrive."

Headteacher Richard Dax, praised the support given to the school by the District Council for the hard work and financial support that the project required.

Designed by Rosie Biggs in 2019, The Belvoirdale Garden contains quiet areas for contemplation and covered seated areas for learning.

"This is an outside classroom to complement our other learning spaces" said Victoria Price, the school's business manager who had raised funds to complete the project originally started in 2027 with members of the local and school communities.

Pupils decorated the garden with murals and painted bricks to look like their favourite books.

A Time Capsule was also buried in the centre of the garden to commemorate the day and to inform future generations of the school's vision of "Dream it, Learn it, Live it."