A WIRRAL community is celebrating after raising thousands of pounds to save a threatened piece of woodland.

Members of the Upton community rallyed to raise around £34,000 to buy a three-and-a-half acre piece of land behind Overton Community Centre.

And organisers behind the project have thanked the Globe after our readers responded to their story two weeks ago.

Residents' association member Jean Robinson had launched a last-minute campaign to raise cash so she could bid for the land when it went under the hammer on Thursday, September 9.

The estate, which sits behind Overton Community Centre and was in regular use by the public, was put up for auction but local residents feared new owners would destroy the natural area.

But after winning the plot for £28,500, they were faced with a race against time to raise the remaining amount of money needed before the land was sold to another bidder.

And thanks to support from Globe readers, Wirral Council and Wirral Partnership Homes, the action group managed to exceed their target.

Jean said: "We have been overwhelmed by the amount of donations we have had off everybody. The generosity is just astounding and we cannot believe the way the whole community and the wider community have pulled together to achieve this.

"Of course we also want to say thank-you to Wirral Partnership Homes and Wirral Council for agreeing to contribute around £12,000 towards the fund.

"We are also hugely grateful to the Wirral Globe for supporting us and giving us a platform to appeal to the people of Wirral."

Now, a meeting has been scheduled so that those who donated can decide how to deal with the land.

It will be held on Wednesday, October 20 at the Overton Community Centre to look into the prospect of handing the land to the Woodlands Trust.

Jean said: "At the moment there are issues with how the Woodlands Trust would manage the land so we all need to get together to discuss it. It is amazing that we managed to go above and beyond what we needed so that extra money will now go towards the Trust."

Cllr Stuart Whittingham, one of the ward councillors who backed the campaign, said: "We would like to congratulate the Overchurch residents on their amazing and successful campaign to raise the money necessary to fund this purchase.

"This was a great achievement and shows just what can be done by a determined community who have now bought an asset the whole community can enjoy for generations to come.

"This is a time for politicians of all parties to take a step backwards and let the credit go to a community who took matters into their own hands and achieved what seemed impossible at first in the short timescale available."