More than 1,000 people have voted for King Edward Memorial Park in Shadwell to be selected for a national competition to safeguard green spaces.

The park is one of the preferred sites for Thames Water to use when building its proposed super sewer through London and could mean part of the waterside park is turned into a building site for up to seven years.

Tower Hamlets Council put the park, on the Highway, forward for the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge.

It is run by the Fields In Trust charity and is designed to safeguard 2,012 green spaces in the UK for recreational use to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee next year.

It received 1,639 votes, more than any other space in London, and as it was the only space put forward by the council, it will now automatically be considered for the safeguarding process.

Piers Morgan and Sir Alan Sugar encouraged their Twitter followers to vote for it.

Emma Puosi, vice-chair of the SaveKEMP group which opposes the park’s use to build the super sewer, said: “SaveKEMP is delighted with the outcome of the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge as it shows how vital this green space is to our area.”

The borough can now enter into a Deed of Dedication with Fields In Trust, which is designed to protect the park for recreational use forever.

Both the council and Fields In Trust could not currently comment on how this could impact Thames Water’s plans.

The company wants to use the park’s foreshore while connecting up an overflow tunnel to the proposed super sewer.