Residents in Croydon are living more active lifestyles according to new figures released by Sport England.

A national league table released this week shows more people in the borough are participating in sport and exercise, putting Croydon 12th in the table of most-improved areas in London.

Croydon has also gone up 77 places nationally in the past four years as residents try to get fit and healthy and cut down on excess weight.

As part of efforts to boost participation in sport and physical activity, Croydon Council have created a new national league basketball club, installed free to use outdoor gyms and opened the new Waddon Leisure Centre.

Mi Change, a new council campaign, offers a free 12-week support programme designed to help people get more active.

The programme will be tailored to individual needs and use achievable goals to motivate participants.

Councillor Margaret Mead, cabinet member for adult services and health, said: "These results are really very encouraging. We know Croydon will always find it hard to match the results of smaller and more generally affluent parts of the UK.

"But the improvements our residents have achieved in comparison to the rest of the country in some part reflect the huge amount of effort that the council’s sports development team puts in."

For more information on Mi Change call 0208 667 8414 or email MIChange@croydon.gov.uk