A PEMBROKESHIRE village has formally opened its new village green after working for 15 years to establish the open public space.

Sutton, which lies north west of Portfield Gate, officially opened its new village green on Saturday, September 8.

Tony Bevan, chair of Camrose Community Council, cut the red ribbon at the opening, and was joined by Nicky Watts, chair of Sutton Residents Association and assembled locals.

“You have done a splendid job of getting this altogether and I know this has been an uphill struggle, but it has turned out alright in the end.

“This has come together very nicely, and I hope it will benefit the community greatly in the future,” said Cllr Bevan.

The publicly maintained piece of land was found to have no known owner 15 years ago, and Sutton residents have been working with advice from the Open Spaces Society to declare it a new village green since then.

Sutton’s new green has a front gate, a lawn area with a barbecue grill for community use, a dipping pond, and is surrounded by trees.

The land also backs onto a small stream with a bridge running over it.

The opening coincided with the last day of a heritage project looking at the History of the lost parish of Lambston.

Sutton belonged to this parish up until 1987 when the area was merged with Camrose parish.

The history exhibition drew an estimated 300 people between September 5 and 8, who learned about the development of the villages in the former parish from the Stone Age right up until the present day.

The Open Spaces Society believes there are 3,650 registered village greens in England and 220 in Wales.

There is no central government list for all these greens, but county councils keep local records.

For information about village greens as well as common land in Pembrokeshire, visit pembrokeshire.gov.uk/common-land