AFC Bournemouth Defender Steve Purches will join Bournemouth University students aiming to reducing sexual activity in Meyrick Park.

The Meyrick Park Conservation Project, run by Bournemouth University’s Students’ Union (SUBU), has been clearing away undergrowth at the park.

The student’s union hopes will reduce the amount of criminal activity taking place in woodland, as well as reinstating public pathways and introducing native species and woodland flowers to the park.

The project was launched last October last year, and ran for six months with a grant from the Green Goals fund, which is partly funded by AFC Bournemouth.

Alexia Browning, who is co-ordinating the Meyrick Park Conservation Project for SUBU, said: “Feedback from the police has been overwhelmingly positive and they report that the area we cleared at Meyrick Park has remained clear of sexual debris.

“The said people said they feel a lot safer in the newly-opened out areas.”