蜜芽传媒

People living in an Essex village say one of its centre pieces is 'vile, smelly and neglected'.

Silver End was founded in 1926 by Francis Henry Crittall, to provide workers at his metal window factory with somewhere to live. Its Memorial Gardens opened in 1952 and at the heart of it is a duck pond with stone seating around the outside.

But now the pond is covered in a thick layer of mud, is full of litter and all the ducks have left...

Picture credit: Henry Godfrey-Evans/蜜芽传媒.

In a statement, a Braintree District Council spokesperson said: "we are aware of the issues with Silver End Memorial Park pond and are working with a contractor to find a solution to clear the pond effectively and safely minimising disturbance to wildlife. The timeline on this will depend on the availability of the contractor and the equipment required, but we hope to have this sorted as soon as possible so residents and the ducks can enjoy the pond once again.鈥�