“Barn Elms is a lung for the grey urban areas around it” - that’s according to one celebrity who has lent her support to the fight to save the picturesque playing fields.

The comment, made by Richmond resident Anneka Rice, follows a successful drive by campaign group Stop the Shaft (StS) to secure support for the fight to stop Thames Water selecting the site, on the Barnes and Putney border, to construct to an entrance to a planned super sewer.

The TV presenter added: “It's an area of outstanding natural beauty and supports ancient trees and extraordinary wildlife. Hundreds of children and adults use the playing fields, the towpath and the river here every day.

“It is vital to keep these precious green pockets of London safe.”

Thames Water, which is constructing the sewer, said it was listening to public feedback.

A spokeswoman said: "The need for the scheme has all-party support, but the tricky bit is finding sites.

“There are no easy options.

"Our first phase of public consultation was the start, not the end, of a dialogue with potentially affected communities.

"We have not yet made any decisions on where the sites need to be and remain open to amending our original proposals, where possible.”

She confirmed the use of a site at Carnwath Road Riverside, Fulham, was being considered as an alternative to Barn Elms.

The building of drive shaft entrances along the Thames banks will allow access for tunnel drilling equipment to construct the 21-mile underground sewage tunnel.

Barn Elms was listed as a potential site and, if chosen, residents could face construction work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for more than three years. The proposal attracted the most comments for any one site in a recent consultation about the sewer build and the creation of StS.

Sian Baxter, StS’s chairwoman said: “The breadth of support has been phenomenal; people all across London and beyond are supporting our cause.

“In the 21st century it is simply unacceptable to threaten green urban spaces not least because it has been shown that there is a direct correlation between well being and location to open space.”

TV and radio broadcaster Peter Snow added: “I am passionately opposed to the digging of the shaft at Barn Elms. Of course the work has to be done but not on one of the most beautiful spots on the Thames.”