A team of community wardens who have helped cut crime on the Marsh Farm estate are to be scrapped next year due to lack of funding.

The wardens, based at the Purley Centre, were put in place with funding from the government's New Deal For Communities scheme, which saw the much-maligned estate receive nearly £50 million to make it a better place to live.

Since they started work on the estate in June 2007, the wardens' presence has been credited with everything from helping reduce crime by 12 per cent to getting residents fit and healthy.

The scheme has cost £650,000 but its funding runs out in March - meaning Marsh Farm will be without its wardens, and the wardens will without jobs.
It had been hoped that Luton Borough Council would cover the cost of the scheme once the government cash ran out, but the authority says it does not currently have the resources available.

"It'll be hard to find another job similar to this one," said scheme supervisor Louise Boutwood.

"It's a fantastic role - every day is different. You're always meeting new people with new issues."

Louise and her four colleagues, with the help of administrator Jayne Maddox, have worked hard both to make the estate look better and raise community spirit.

Their day to day duties include tackling grafitti, flytipping and anti-social behaviour, but they also organise a wide range of projects, including the Junior Wardens scheme, which gets children aged eight to 12 involved in looking after their local environment.

Louise said: "When we first started people were asking a lot of questions about who we were and what we were doing. But we quickly started establishing links with residents through community projects and activities.

"It's been a really positive response from the majority of people - the ones who have got the same goals as us, such as cleaner, brighter and safer areas.

"They've accepted us and have been unbelievably helpful to us."