THE PIGS have been ordered, the shovels are sharpened and the champagne is chilling on ice.

Ten years after the seeds were first sown, Oxford City Farm has finally signed a lease on its very own city farmyard.

The East Oxford group have signed a 40-year agreement with Oxfordshire County Council on the 2.3-acre site off Cornwallis Road in Florence Park.

They have already cleared the forest of brambles which suffocated the soil for years and this month they will borrow two pigs from Coopers Oxford Pork near Didcot who will chew up the roots left in the soil ready for it to be rotavated and cultivated.

Lucie Mayer, chairman of trustees at the registered charity, said she was 'over the moon'.

The mum-of-two told the Oxford Mail: "It's amazing, we just want to shout about the good news."

Ms Mayer, a nurse at Helen and Douglas House children's hospice in East Oxford, was first inspired by the city farms she grew up with in London.

She said: "I had seen what amazing resources they are for city kids to learn about food farming and animals, but what I love about them is that it is learning by doing; being surrounded by lovely animals.

"There are so many people who seem to get an immense therapeutic benefit from it."

The Oxford City Farm group now has eight trustees, a steering group of 12, 220 people on its mailing list and 800 followers on Facebook.

Ms Mayer, 44, added: "So many people have just been waiting for this lease to be signed."

The group have actually used the land for years, clearing brambles, setting up a beehive and harvesting their first honey, but now the transformation can begin in earnest.

In the next few months new fences will go up, the pigs will turn over the soil, and then that bit of the land will be seeded with grass to turn it into pasture for the farm's sheep and goats to graze on – when they arrive.

Chickens and ducks are planned and possibly even a permanent pig, after the ones borrowed from Coopers are returned.

The group will create new beds and polytunnels ready for potatoes, carrots and fruits which can be turned into preserves and jams to raise funds for the farm.

The trustees are now looking into grant funding to employ a development manager and a community grower, but they plan to have plenty of volunteer opportunities for school children, pensioners and people out of work looking to bolster their CVs.

But even with all those volunteer hours, the transformation will cost a lot of money, and the group is always looking for donations from supporters.

Find out more about how to support the project at oxfordcityfarm.org.uk