There was community spirit to the end.

More than 150 people packed into Lewes Road Community Garden in Brighton to say goodbye to the site, before the gates were locked for a final time.

The founders decided not to fight a court possession order granted to developers Alburn Minos and instead pots and planters from the garden have been moved to nearby schools and community gardens.

During its final afternoon members met in the garden where they listened to music and sang songs including Everybody Needs A Garden and T.E.S.C.O.

Alburn Minos has planning permission to build seven flats and two retail units at the site.

Tesco has confirmed it is interested in taking over one unit.

Members also wore T-shirts with the Tesco logo and the word FIASCO underneath.

Duncan Blinkhorn, one of the garden’s founders who had been made personally liable for more than £6,000 legal costs by the developers if the garden failed to meet the court deadline, spoke to the group.

He said: “This is the end of a chapter of the story of this garden."