The road to hell is famously paved with good intentions so it is unclear where Grange Park in Carshalton will lead after the cruellest intentions created its new paving.

In a remarkable case of crime putting something back into the community, slabs stolen from Carshalton War Memorial are being used to repair nearby York stone paths.

The disclosure will stun local people who feared permanent defacing of the cenotaph when an axeman dislodged 35 flagstones last October.

At the time Sutton Council had been struggling to source replacements until a sympathetic stonemason scoured the country for reclaimed York stones.

Toby Moore, from the Stonewest firm, provided free labour and transport so restoration work could be completed before Remembrance Day.

But, to his astonishment, the Sutton Guardian has now learned that detectives retrieved most of the rare paving, worth about £5,000, from the thief.

A Sutton police spokesman said: "Of the stones that were recovered, some were in a very poor state and had to be disposed of - York stone is prone to splitting and cracking.

"Following the re-laying of replacement slabs on the memorial site, we have been left with surplus slabs, some original and some new, which will be used to repair the York stone paths in Grange Park."

Bob Steel, a local resident and chairman of the Green Party for Croydon and Sutton, criticised stonewalling police officers for inducing unnecessary panic.

He said: "I was under the distinct impression that the stones had been spirited away.

"There was no mention of the fact that they had largely been recovered.

"I would have expected the police to release this information immediately, regardless of the condition of stones."

Last month Samuel Ware, 22, from Aldershot, was jailed for four months for the desecration at Carshalton Ponds.