Participation in sport and physical activity has risen by nearly five per cent according to latest figures - the highest in the history of the survey.

A survey by Sport England revealed that nearly 15,000 more people have taken part in sport or physical activity from 2011 to 2013 than between 2007 and 2009.

Only 16.7 per cent of people exercised in 2007 to 2009, while the latest survey shows more than 21 per cent of people.

The figure is the largest ever recorded in this survey and bucks the trend of national participation in sport, which is falling.

Councillor Bambos Charalambous, cabinet member for culture and leisure said: “These results are fantastic. Our highest ever recorded adult participation in sport and active recreation in Enfield, verified by Sport England.

“Enfield Council is proud of its commitment to getting people active in the borough. We have a number of initiatives to get people involved in sport, from our partners Fusion, who run a series of state of the art leisure centres, to our ‘Everybody Active’ programmes which aim to get everyone thinking about recreation in the borough.

“This official recognition from Sport England of our achievements is great news, and really shows that we are leaders in our field in sport and physical activity in Enfield.”