Combat zone around central Greenford (5)
I believe the answer is:
arena
'combat zone' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'around central greenford' is the wordplay.
'around' becomes 'nearby' (synonyms).
'central' means to look at the middle letters.
'greenford' becomes 'ena' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The centre of 'nearby' is 'ar'.
'ar'+'ena'='ARENA'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for arena that I've seen before include "sports ground" , "Battleground" , "Venue for boxing, circus and other action events" , "Sphere of intense activity" , "Performance venue" .)