A police officer and a dragon have brought the smile back to the faces of 30 elderly and disabled residents in Kingston.

Soon after taking up her post as home-beat officer for Hugh Herland House in Portland Place, PC Olga Lennon-Nitsche realised all was not rosy at the council-run sheltered accommodation.

She explained: "The residents didn't get on with each other. They were a bit disgruntled and didn't do anything together, such as go on outings. At the moment they don't even have a warden."

To get them working together PC Lennon-Nitsche came up with the idea of transforming their half-acre semi-derelict gardens into a single millennium garden in the shape of a dragon - because the year 2000 is the Chinese year of the Dragon.

She got the backing of the residents, some in their 80s, and involved them in the whole planning process.

Last weekend, aided by volunteers from Kingston Environment Centre, her vision began to take shape.

It will be another 10 months before the garden is complete but PC Lennon-Nitsche said that on Monday the residents already had a smile on their faces as they sat out in the garden in the sunshine.

The next step is a trip to the Horticultural Therapy Centre in Battersea to choose herbs which will be appreciated by the residents including scented ones for the blind.

PC Lennon-Nitsche is now helping plan an outing to Sandown Park.

Asked why the police were getting involved in a project like this PC Lennon-Nitsche replied: "People were unhappy and wrote letters to us about it. This type of police work in the community stops crime before it starts."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.