Volunteers have repaired damage caused by years of thefts of water filtering equipment along the Lea River.

They have restored the historic Middlesex filter beds as a wetland habitat in a two-year project to return the nature reserve to its former glory.

The volunteers worked with a team from Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and conservation experts and civil engineers to reclaim this lost wetland next to Lea Bridge Road.

“These dynamic ecosystems are some of the most threatened habitats in the world,” Lee Valley Regional Park’s Paul Roper explained. “There was a real need to restore the wetland habitat, with global warming, pollution and urbanisation having an impact on the number of wetlands in Britain.