The Teddington Society has celebrated its 40th anniversary.

The society was founded after Adam Joseph started an action group to address potential problems of developing the riverside in 1973.

The group’s members wanted to preserve the character of the town and support community projects, an ethos that remains today.

The society held a party to celebrate its landmark birthday at the Landmark Arts Centre, in Ferry Road, Teddington, on Saturday, October 5.

The society’s publicity and promotions officer Sheena Harold said it was a brilliant night and 205 people joined in the festivities, which included food, drink, live music, a raffle and displays of the society’s work over the years.

Volunteers from the society then helped scrub graffiti off Teddington Memorial Hospital.

A crowd from the society’s environment group rolled up their sleeves and got to work to remove the vandalism on Tuesday, October 8.

Geoff Howland, leader of the environment group, said: “It’s been a successful day and it’s great to see Teddington Memorial Hospital back to how it should be.

“Getting graffiti removed from within Teddington is a priority for us.”

Hospital chairman Stephen Swords thanked the volunteers for their work in cleaning up what is an important building in the community.