Kendal Town Council is installing 20 new allotment plots at its Canal Head site.

Council contractors began groundwork on Monday to lay out the new growing spaces.

The council’s waiting list for allotments surged to over 150 people during the pandemic, and the Kendal Citizen’s Climate Jury recommended more allotment growing as a part of the Carbon Zero Kendal project.

The new plots are expected to be ready for tenants by the autumn and will benefit from additional rabbit-proofing and a trough system to manage water supply.

And the whole project is set to cost just under £20,000, to be funded from the council’s allotment reserve.

The Canal Head site was traditionally allotment land – going back to the days of the Lancaster Canal itself, according to the council.

However, the northern half of the property had fallen into disuse in the 1970s.

The work has been helped by the landowner’s decision last year to improve tree management along the line of the former canal. South Lakeland District Council carried out targeted works in the area to make a number of trees safe, and to take out self-seeded growth which was threatening the popular canal footpath and cycleway.

Chair of the town council’s allotments committee Councillor Alvin Finch said: “We’ve been needing to invest in more allotment plots for some time, and this is a great opportunity to expand our provision on land we already lease for this purpose.”