A FLORAL bed designed to commemorate the 2012 London Olympics and the passage of the Olympic flame through the borough could be scrapped by Thurrock Council which has once again allowed it to degenerate into a state of disrepair.

The bed, created in Blackshots in 2009 to symbolise Thurrock's commitment to the Olympics and planned to be a lasting legacy is situated at Blackshots, adjacent to the A1013 Stanford Road on the approach to Daneholes roundabout.

It is on the route that the Olympic torch was carried as it came through the borough in the days before the London games and was officially opened on Make a Difference Day on 31 October 2009.

In the immediate aftermath of the games the council continued to maintain the small garden and replant when necessary but slowly allowed it to fall into a mass of overgrown bushes and weeds until, in 2018, local protests forced the council's hand and they restored it.

However, it has never regained its former glory and now the council wants to scrap it and replace it with two trees.

The council has launched a consultation, saying: "We would like to remove this bed and replace with two trees. One to mark that the Olympic Flame passed by this spot on its way to the London Olympics 2012. The other to mark the Queen's platinum jubilee."

Views of the public are being sought and residents are invited to have their say via this link.