A long term study into the power green spaces have on mental health has been picked up on in the fight to save Jessel Green.

Last week the Journal of the American Medical Association published the results of a study conducted by Eugenia C. South, Bernadette C. Hohl and Michelle C. Kondo.

Having compiled a list of vacant land which had been blighted by fly-tips, abandoned cars and unmanaged vegetation growth in Philadelphia, 541 received three distinct kinds of treatment.

A third were cleaned and re-greened through tree and grass planting, a third were cleaned but not-greened and a third were left as they were.

Over the course of a year and a half, 342 people who lived by one of the three kinds of lots were asked to rate their mental health.

They found self-reported feelings of depression dropped by 41.5 per cent and poor mental health by 62.8 per cent for those living near greened and cleaned vacant lots, compared to the control.

The study concludes: "Among community-dwelling adults, self-reported feelings of depression and worthlessness were significantly decreased, and self-reported poor mental health was nonsignificantly reduced for those living near greened vacant land.

"The treatment of blighted physical environments, particularly in resource-limited urban settings, can be an important treatment for mental health problems alongside other patient-level treatments."

For members of the Save Jessel Green campaign and those who live near or use the Loughton field, the results may be worrying.

Under Epping Forest District Council's Local Plan, a large portion of the green is to be destroyed and replaced with 154 houses.

Stephen Murray, Loughton Town Mayor and independent district councillor, said: "What a pity that our district council Epping Forest wants to do the very reverse with Jessel Green.

"De-greening a green lung in the heart of one of the most urbanised parts - Loughton Broadway and Fairmead wards - of our district council area."