RENOWNED writer and academic Germaine Greer was among dozens of visitors to the first exhibition at a new environment centre.

The Wat Tyler Green Centre, at Wat Tyler Country Park, in Pitsea, hosted a display on natural history and geology by the Essex Field Club.

Ms Greer, who lives near Saffron Walden, is a member of the club, a society for wildlife enthusiasts, which was founded in 1880 to research and promote Essex’s natural heritage.

The group has been based at the £1.2million centre, in Pitsea Hall Lane, since it opened in October.

Kevin Blake, Basildon Council's cabinet member for leisure and arts, said: “We are very proud to have been able to home the Essex Field Club, which does such important work in the science of nature conservation.”