An 89-year-old man who helped save men from a pub during the blitz has opened a memorial garden on the site.

Cliff Short, 89, was 15-years-old and only two months into his job as a runner for the fire brigade when a bomb dropped on the Two Brewers on September 30, 1940.

In all, 20 people were killed in the explosion. Mr Short recalled his role in the aftermath.

He said: “The bomb went straight through the pub and into the basement where the men were hiding and that is when it exploded.

“I helped pull two people from the wreckage but unfortunately both died in the following days. It is difficult to talk about it even now.”

The former pub, which was on the corner of South Street and High Street, in Ponder End, has now been turned into a memorial garden by Enfield Borough Council with approximately £10,000 from the Mayor of London’s outer London fund.

The garden was officially opened on the 74th anniversary of pub’s destruction.

One man did survive the bombing. John Dust, known to many as Jack, was pulled from the wreckage but unfortunately lost both his legs.

Mr Dust's son Albert, 71, also helped open the garden and told the newspaper of the events which happened that evening.

He said: “My father was waiting in the pub for his brother, my uncle, when all the men were told to hide in the basement. Unfortunately the bomb did not explode on impact and went straight through to the basement.

“My uncle arrived just moments after the bombing happened, if he had been a few minutes earlier he would have been killed.

“Jack had only just been commissioned to join the army to fight in the war, something he was never able to do after the bombing on the pub.”

Enfield Council leader Councillor Doug Taylor said: “Enfield Council is working hard to make Ponders End a better place for people to visit, live and work in and we are working really hard to regenerate the high street, make it a more attractive shopping destination and create jobs here.

“This is a historic moment in the history of the area we are delighted to be providing a fantastic community facility on the site of the old Two Brewers pub.”