Deptford’s iconic anchor will soon be back in the High Street after concerted campaigns from locals to get it reinstalled.

Installation work will start on January 15 at the south end of Deptford High Street and will last approximately three weeks before it is ship shape and ready to be unveiled.

The anchor was removed in 2013, 25 years after it was put in place in 1988, as part of regeneration efforts and amid concerns that it was facilitating street drinking.

But a campaign by the Deptford Society entitled “Give Us Back Our Bloomin’ Anchor” garnered more than 4,000 signatures and prompted the council to act.

At a Lewisham Council cabinet meeting in March 2017, it was agreed that the Deptford Anchor would be restored.

Following that, planning permission was granted on August 17 to have the anchor installed back at the junction at New Cross Road and Deptford High Street.

The new installation will have a larger granite base along with a plaque telling the history of the anchor.

Peter Collins, chairman of the Deptford Society, said: "Different groups have been campaigning for its return since the consultation for the road repaving scheme in 2012. 

"Since its removal, little graffitied anchors had started appearing on the new paving where it had once stood, and local artist Laura X Carle displayed a giant cardboard anchor in an exhibition about Deptford at London’s South Bank

"In the last couple of years when it’s often felt like there have been more pressing issues which deserve attention, I think it’s been an important example in how grass roots campaigning can bring success."

A spokesperson from the campaign to get the anchor reinstalled said: “We'd like to say a big thank you for signing our petition Give Us Back Our Bloomin’ Anchor and helping us to reach a big milestone in our campaign.

“We'll all be looking forward to seeing our bloomin' anchor back where it belongs.”