FIVE years ago, things were pretty quiet down at the allotments in Bergholt Road, Colchester.

Only a handful of hardy souls were growing tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce and raspberries, while scores of plots stood untended.

How things have changed since then. Now, every last one of the 909 plots on the borough’s 19 allotments sites is spoken for, with a waiting list that topped 500 last year.

The recession, new interest in healthy eating and a number of other factors means these days, it’s close to impossible to beg, steal or borrow a few square feet of soil.

Sally Young, chairman of Colchester Allotment Association, outlined the reasons for the big change.

Saving money was definitely one, she said, but a another key factor was the way many people were keen to grow their own food and know what they were eating, rather than buying produce which might have been covered in chemicals.

She said: “About five or six years ago, the site was almost derelict. Now there’s a waiting list and people are really keen to grow vegetables.

“What’s interesting is the completely different types of people who have allotments now.

“It used to have the image it was a lot of old men, and it probably was.

“Now a lot of people are working and doing this in whatever spare time they have.

“Also, quite a lot of people have very small children.”

Ron Grocott, 63, took over his colourful plot at the Bergholt Road allotments from his son as a retirement gift.

Most days he now travels from his home, just off Ipswich Road, to spend an hour or two there.

He said: “I’d never grown vegetables before, but the idea of planting a seed and growing food is fun.

“You get to meet lots of other people – people of all ages.”

Jackie Briggs, 48, started working on her plot about three years ago with husband, Steve.

She said: “I got into it just before the allotment thing really took off, so I only had to wait about three months for a plot.

“My husband comes to help and we tend to work it together.

“It’s given us something to do together.”

Colchester Council’s parks and recreation manager, Bob Penny, said the waiting list for allotments was currently just shy of the 400 mark – down from the 560 peak it hit a year ago.

This is partly because some people had since had had second thoughts about the work involved, and partly because the council made it clear it now expected a good deal more from its allowmentholders.

Mr Penny explained: “We give out warning notices and people who don’t cultivate their allotments will find their agreements will get terminated.

“We also have new agreements, so if people with plots of 200 square metres find they are too big for them, we can take back half the plot and let it out to someone else.”

Land for new allotments is also being sought, though in the current climate, new sites are hard to find.

The allotment association is trying to raise £40,000 to extend the Bergholt Road site. Some land has also been set aside for allotments as part of the redevelopment plan for the former Severalls Hospital site.

Another possible solution has been put forward by Colchester MP Bob Russell.

He said: “We have a waiting list for allotments, while there are also people who, for whatever reason, can no longer do their own gardens.

“How about bringing the two groups together?”

About 20 years ago, when Mr Russell was a ward councillor in New Town, he made a similar suggestion.

It never really quite caught on, but one man spent several years working on the back garden of two elderly sisters who lived about 200 yards from him.

Mr Russell said: “It could set a national trend if we could get it to work in Colchester.”