After four years, the Deptford Anchor will be returned to Deptford High Street after years of calls for it to be reinstated.

The anchor was removed in 2013 due to a redevelopment of the high street and concerns that it was attracting street drinkers due to the low bench that surrounded the installation.

Tonight @mayorbullock & Lewisham’s cabinet agreed the return of the Deptford Anchor @SthLondonPresshttps://t.co/wdRbxeTVPl — Lewisham Council (@LewishamCouncil) March 22, 2017

However, the return of the anchor will not be without cost. Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham, told Eastlondonlines: “The work begins to pay for its permanent placement there and I know that local residents and other supporters will work with the council and do all they can to help with the fundraising efforts.”

Many petitions were made for the return of the anchor, the most successful being titled ‘Give Us Back Our Bloomin’ Anchor’, which reached over 4,000 signatures. Many of the petitions argued that the anchor’s removal had merely moved the street drinkers to new locations in Deptford, not solving the problem.

Mayor Steve Bullock ruled in a council meeting last week, saying: “Deptford residents have made clear their attachment to this important local landmark and I know they’ll be very happy with the decision to return the anchor to the junction of Deptford High Street and New Cross Road.”

Brenda Dacres, Labour Councillor for New Cross, was a part of the meeting on Wednesday asking the mayor to return the anchor. She tweeted the success of the meeting: “Extremely pleased to have spoken at Mayor and Cabinet on the return of #Deptford Anchor @mayorbullock has agreed the return of the Anchor”

After its removal, the anchor was stored in the Olympia Building in the Convoys Wharf which was originally the King’s Yard set up by Henry VIII, starting the beginning of Deptford’s rich naval history. From August 2013, graffiti anchors began to appear around the high street in an anonymous call for the council to return the reminder of Deptford’s naval history.