A LIFELONG park goer claims site managers are “leaving it alone to die”.

Paul Donovan has been going to Wanstead Park around five times a week for as long as he can remember.

But the 55-year-old, of Dangan Road, Wanstead is in despair over managers City of London Corporation (CoCL)’s “general neglect” of his beloved park.

It was put on Historic England’s ‘at risk’ register in 2009 because the “framework of designed vistas and lakes are losing value”.

This year engineers had to reduce water levels to get rid of a dangerous “floating pennywort” weed from the Perch Pond and fix issues with a dam in the Heronry Pond.

But despite CoCL claims water levels are heading back to normal, Mr Donovan believes the Corporation is “dragging its feet” when it comes to long term water shortages.

He said: “At the end of November I spotted signs warning against “deep mud” on the banks of the Ornamental Water.

“It’s all very well putting signs up to warn people, but where are the signs that something is actually being done about it?

“To our dismay, regular park users like me have seen water drain out of the Ornamental Water and other lakes over this year.

“Now you can see the bottom of the most of the lake filled with broken trees, debris and rubbish.

“I believe there are plans to get a license for pumping some of the water from the River Roding into the lakes, but that’s clearly just a stopgap measure.”

Mr Donovan added: “The unique system which sees water flow from one lake to another has been broken for years now.

“It must be a constant source of embarrassment the park is still on the “at risk” register because of water shortages after seven years.

“They just don’t seem to care enough about Wanstead Park to spend any money to properly fix the problems.”

Figures released by CoCL show it has only invested £1.23 million in Wanstead Park over the last five years, compared to £50 million spent in Hampstead Heath.

Mr Donovan said: “They always claim they’ve got no money, but we all know they do, they just won’t spend it here.

“Wanstead Park is a fantastic ecological treasure for the whole of our community.

“It needs to be nurtured and cared for – not left alone to die.”

A CoCL spokesman claimed water levels at the Shoulder of Mutton, Perch and Heronry Ponds are back to normal.

But they said: “However, the Ornamental Water receives water directly from the Perch Pond as part of a five-lake cascade system.

“While we have made tremendous progress towards eradicating the floating pennywort weed to prevent it spreading to Ornamental Water, we need to continue to stop the flow of water from Perch Pond.

“We continue to work with hydrologists to identify long term solutions to the issue. In the short term we’re looking at ways of diverting water to the Ornamental Water lake, bypassing the Perch Pond altogether.”