Vegetable patches springing up all over

An expert from a horticulture magazine has asserted there is a growing number of gardeners taking an interest in cultivating foodstuffs.

The most comprehensive study of the subject ever to take place in the capital found demand for allotments and plots in community gardens was at an all time high when it was carried out in 2006.

According to the Greater London Assembly research, more than 1,500 such spaces had disappeared over the ten years leading up to the survey, meaning demand was intensified even further.

Commenting, Grow Your Own magazine editor Lucy Halsall explained finding room to cultivate food if you do not have a garden or greenhouse is becoming difficult.

"Its hugely popular," she said. "The last couple of years theres been a massive increase in the popularity of growing your own food – fruit and vegetables."

Those with the problem of having no space might find it is soon alleviated, with London mayor Boris Johnson encouraging citizens to create community gardens on rooftops, balconies and riverbanks in the run-up to the Olympic Games in 2012.