A 92-year-old double Olympic silver medallist has joined the fight to protect a recreational space in Mitcham where she once trained.

Dorothy Tyler was just 16-years-old when she competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, taking home a silver medal in the high jump, under the watchful eye of Adolf Hitler.

She later competed in the 1948 Olympic Games in London and again took home the silver medal in the high jump.

The running track near the Canons and Park Place was once the home of Mitcham Athletics Club and was where the former Olympic champion once trained.

Sixty years later, residents are calling on Merton Council to dedicate the former Olympic champion’s training ground under the Fields in Trust programme - a lasting legacy for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and London 2012.

Campaigner Melanie Nunzet, 56, from Mitcham, said: "We need to protect this important historical and recreational space which has made a significant contribution to Britain’s Olympic and international sporting fame in the past.

"This is why we are asking Merton Council to have this space dedicated through the Fields in Trust programme.

"This programme aims to protect 2012 outdoor recreational spaces in communities all across the country as a permanent living legacy of the Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics.

"This is the Queen Elizabeth Fields Challenge and is a flagship programme headed by its patron, the Duke of Cambridge.

"If we can make this happen, then this important green space will be protected in perpetuity from the growing threat of development in the area."

Councillor Andrew Judge, cabinet member for environmental sustainability and regeneration at Merton Council, said: "We are one of the greenest boroughs in London and highly value our parks and green open spaces.

"We are confident in our own robust planning policy, which clearly states that our green spaces are protected for residents and visitors to enjoy for generations to come."

Born in Stockwell, Mrs Tyler moved to Mitcham at a young age and went to Gorringe Park Primary and later Links School and was a member of the North East Mitcham Brownie and Guide group from 1930 to 1936.

When the Second World War began, she became an HGV lorry driver and served in the Air Force as a PE instructor and later married and had two sons.

Mrs Nunzet, a walk leader with the Sutton and Wandle Valley Ramblers, will be holding a ‘Get Walking for the Games’ event on Saturday, May 26, which will start and finish at the Canons Leisure Centre in Mitcham.

For more information visit suttonwandleramblers.co.uk