More than 4m people tuned in this week to watch the final episode of the long-running ITV police drama The Bill, which often used the Cambridge Road estate in Kingston as a filming location.

The programme filmed in the borough three or four times a year and contributed up to £9,000 to the estate, used to fund playgrounds, fun days and other local facilities.

ITV announced the decision to axe the show in March, citing changing times and changing tastes, and aired the final episode on Tuesday, August 31, despite more than 30,000 fans joining a Facebook campaign to save the show.

The espiode, which was dedicated to “the men and women of the Metropolitan Police Service past and present”, ended with officers going for a pint after dealing with the gang rape of a teenage girl and the murder of a 14-year-old boy, and the longest-serving member gave a moving speech.