Residents have inundated the town hall with applications for street parties over the Royal Jubilee weekend. The council is actively encouraging residents to stage celebrations to mark this historic Royal milestone.

And with just over two weeks to go until the Jubilee festivities begin, the council is calling on more neighbourhoods to join the fun.

As with last year's royal wedding, the council has stripped away all the red tape and cost of holding a street party over the Jubilee bank holiday weekend of June 2nd to June 5th.

The normal £50 fee road closure fee has been waived while all the information that's required can be submitted online via a simple internet questionnaire.

This simplified system means there is nothing to stop residents staging a great neighbourhood get-together to mark The Queen's 60 years on the throne.

Residents should be aware that not all roads can be closed for a party - especially if they are important arterial routes. The council cannot close red routes and Transport for London is unlikely to close roads that are on bus routes.

To find out more and apply online visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/streetparties. Organisers can also call (020) 8871 6712 or email streetworks@wandsworth.gov.uk for advice.

The borough will be at the heart of the nation's jubilee celebrations on Sunday, June 3, when a 1,000 boat river pageant will travel along the Thames from Putney. The royal flotilla will sail past Battersea Park where a massive festival is being staged to celebrate The Queen's reign.

The festival organisers have set aside a stock of tickets for people living near Battersea Park in the SW11 and SW8 postcode areas, who will be most directly affected by the event. Up to five tickets each can be bought by these residents. To obtain these tickets people should visit www.ticketmaster.co.uk/event/35004891F49696B3?did=wworth.

There is a charge of £5 per person to cover administration costs. Tickets for children aged 12 and under, who will need to be accompanied by an adult, are free.

The organisers have also given the council a quota of 10,000 tickets to allocate to borough residents. These have been distributed via local schools to deserving pupils who live in the borough, to children and young people looked after by the council, to voluntary groups and charities working with older people, to those living in supported housing and to groups who support disabled people.

The private company that manages Wandsworth's leisure centres and the borough's four indoor swimming pools is also marking the jubilee by allowing under-16s to swim for free during the school's half term holiday from Saturday June 2nd to Sunday June 10th.

Bosses at DC Leisure have generously agreed to offer young people free swimming sessions at the Latchmere leisure centre in Battersea and also at Balham, Tooting and Putney leisure centres.

The decision to mark the Diamond Jubilee in this way was inspired by events from more than a century ago when the last British monarch celebrated six decades on the throne. In 1897 for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, it was proposed to "give a treat to the poor children of Battersea in the form of a Jubilee Meal".

To find out more about the Diamond Jubilee in Wandsworth, including details of the Festival and Pageant, visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/jubilee.