Duke of Cambridge joins DIY SOS Grenfell crew

Duke of Cambridge and Nick Knowles Image copyright ADRIAN DENNIS/PA
Image caption The Duke of Cambridge showed some artistic flair as he helped the DIY SOS paint the walls of a new community hub near the site of Grenfell Tower

Prince William has joined the DIY SOS team to rebuild a boxing gym that was destroyed in the Grenfell Tower fire.

He has been helping to create a new home for the Dale Youth Boxing Academy and a community hub near the site of the blaze in which 71 people died.

The Duke of Cambridge is due to meet residents affected by the fire which broke out on 14 June 2017.

The show's presenter Nick Knowles said the project was one of the DIY SOS's "morally most important" to date.

Image copyright ADRIAN DENNIS/PA
Image caption Duke of Cambridge is due to meet residents affected by Grenfell Tower fire ahead of the first anniversary of the fatal fire

The gym has turned out stars including WBA super middleweight champion George Groves and Olympic gold medallist James DeGale.

The academy, which was housed at the foot of Grenfell Tower in west London, currently trains at a makeshift facility in a nearby car park.

The programme plans to have parts of the project "built inside a year".

Planning permission for the development was granted on 8 March, conditional on a "full consultation with the community".

This is the second time the prince has appeared on the BBC's flagship construction show, having worked with Prince Harry to help the crew convert homes in Manchester for military veterans in 2015.

Image copyright ADRIAN DENNIS/Getty Images
Image caption The DIY SOS team are building on a long-disused site managed by the Westway Trust
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption Boxers had been using Dale Youth Boxing Academy just a few hours before the fire took hold in Grenfell Tower