A GROUP of Crystal Palace residents have started a campaign to try and get an old subway opened to the public.

The Crystal Palace subway, which is under Crystal Palace Parade, is a grade II listed building. but has been closed to the public since the last 1990s.

TV producer Jules Hussey and architect Karl Richter have been at the forefront of the plans to try and open the subway for members of the public to go down and take a look, and have hopes that in the future the area might be used as a space for exhibitions and galleries.

They are currently in talks with Bromley Council to try and set up a friends group to manage the project.

Ms Hussey, 42, of Gipsy Hill, said: “I didn’t even know it was there until recently. I think it needs to be open, there are a lot of people who don’t know about the heritage on their doorstep.

“When I went down I was amazed by the quality of the work down there, you don’t expect it to be there. It’s really quite powerful."

The subway was built in 1865 to link Crystal Palace High Level station with the Palace. The subway fell out of use when the station was demolished in 1961 and was gated off from the public in the 1990s because of safety concerns.

An online petition to open the subway got more than 200 signatures in its first week.

Melvyn Harrison, chairman of the Crystal Palace Foundation, said: “It should be open, it’s the jewel in the crown of the park.

“It’s a very sad place at the minute, it’s not in a good state. It needs a lot of TLC.”