Former England footballer Teddy Sheringham has been to see progress of Dagenham’s new £12million sports centre at Parsloes Park.

He used a marker pen to show he “woz here” on his visit to the building site where the facilities are under construction.

The ex-Tottenham and West Ham striker joined Barking and Dagenham deputy council leader Saima Ashraf to see the work in progress.

“This will offer state-of-the-art facilities for people,” Cllr Ashraf explained.

“We have a rich connection to football, the birthplace of England’s only World Cup winning manager and captain.

“So it’s only right that we have a sports hub that hopefully creates more success stories.”

Footballing talent to come from the borough includes the late Bobby Moore, born at Upney Hospital in 1941 and who went on to lead the winning England team in the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley.

The state-of-the-art facility includes 16 grass sports pitches and three 3G pitches. One of the pitches is having four covered stands and is earmarked as the new permanent home for two clubs, May & Baker Eastbrook Community FC which plays in the Eastern Counties League Division One South, and Cobra FC which is in the Echo Junior League and Essex Sunday Corinthian League.

The facilities are to have a gym, fitness studio, café, meeting rooms and shower and changing facilities to replace the old single-storey pavilion.

They become a venue for schools and grassroots sports clubs for meetings and education sessions, managed by the Leisure United charity for the National Football Trust, with surplus income put back into the community. An education offer is being provided by West Ham United Foundation.

Work on the centre is expected to be completed by October, paid for with £6m from the Premier League, FA and the government’s Football Foundation, and another £6m from Barking and Dagenham Council, as well as cash from the GLA and the London Marathon Charitable Trust.

Parsloes Park currently has 23 pitches, four mini soccer pitches and changing facilities, as well as a basketball court, two tennis courts and a bowling green.