Peasholm Park Friends, along with Scarborough Council gardeners, held a volunteer day to restore the Lily Pond and surrounding area.

The highlight was the reinstallation of the Hermes (or Winged Mercury) statue on to a plinth in the centre of the pond. The statue had been taken away by the council for restoration and repair work to be carried out.

Christine Mark, chairman of the Friends group, said: "We worked extremely hard that day and I would like to thank the three loyal volunteers who came to help us – Mary and Tony Davison and Joan Williamson.

"They worked without a break for many hours and it was back-breaking work too – you could have made plates with the soil it was such heavy, wet clay!"

Ms Mark added that 2,860 new plants were put in around the pond. She said: "We started to plant at 10am and although we carried on without a break until 4pm, the gardeners had to go back the next morning to finish off."