Tenants living in Helgate Court in Westwick Street, near the bottom of Grapes Hill, are devastated after being told they must take down the border that protects their cherished communal garden.

Housing group Orbit, which owns the building, had given them seven days to take it down - with today (Friday, July 10) being their final day.

Pensioners have been told their garden picket fence will be removed. (Image: Newsquest)

The patch of land had began life as a "mud field" but it has since been made into a "beautiful space which feels like home" after resident Julian Phillips painstakingly dug up the soil to lay turf down.

The 80-year-old then went on to lovingly plant flowers in order to create a proper garden for the 31 flats.

To stop the area from being driven over and churned back into mud, he installed a low picket fence around the edge of........

© Eastern Daily Press