The team looking after the community garden outside Malden Manor station needs donations towards its upkeep.

The garden is used by people waiting for friends or buses, and also occasional events like poetry spots or bicycle repairs for residents.

It came into existence after a group of locals worked with South West Trains under their Adopt a Station scheme.

Paul Atkinson, one of the group, said: “It used to be an awful cut-through. With the co-operation of South West Trains we managed to get do it up, and it’s actually been really useful for people in the area.

“The money would go to a number of things – litterpickers, a new stronger trellis, improving the planter by the wall – basically to keep it really, really tidy.”

The space is nicknamed the John Everett Millais Community Garden, after the Pre-Raphaelite painter whose famous “Ophelia” depicts the nearby Hogsmill River.

Mr Atkinson said: “We’re really pleased with how it is and how it’s being used. The whole area at Malden Manor, as railway stations go, it can feel a bit of an energyless place. The more people who are there, using it, the better.

“And it’s a nicer first impression of Malden Manor than there was before.”

Now the group is working with charity Sustrans, which is planning to open another community space nearby.

A fundraising page can be found at spacehive.com/maldenmanorstationcommunitygarden.