It was a crocus valley that - courtesy of the Anglo Saxons - lent Croydon its name.

Now the purple flowers could make a return in an unlikely setting - the council's former headquarters.

An amateur gardener has secured permission to turn the Taberner House site, currently vacant, into a temporary saffron farm.

Ally McKinlay, 39, of Waddon, then plans to distribute the thousands of Crocus Sativus plants to each of the borough's 24 wards ahead of the site's redevelopment next year.

He said: "I had the idea when I was at the Ambition festival, stood in Queen's Gardens, and it occurred to me that the Taberner House site is empty. I'd heard it wasn't going to be reused until the new year and you can plant them and they start growing within a month - the should be flowering within 40 days - so we can be in and out of there before Christmas.

"It's simply too great an opportunity to turn down when land in central Croydon - at Croydon Councils former main office - is made available for a temporary saffron farm."

Mr McKinlay plans to harvest the valuable saffron - with one restaurant having already offered to buy the first crop - before reinvesting the proceeds in the scheme.

He will then ask community groups to take the plants to re-home in parks and green spaces.

But he needs to have raised £4,000 by midnight tomorrow night to proceed with the plans. Donations have reached just over £3,000.

You can contribute by clicking here.