AN MP has seen for himself how an industrialised area is turning over a new leaf.

Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Ashok Kumar toured Lingfield Farm Countryside Centre, on the edge of Middlesbrough, before moving on to the grounds of Cleveland Police headquarters, where he saw a fraction of the two million trees that have been planted over the years to create the Tees Forest.

Accompanied by Clive Davies, director of the Tees Forest, Mr Kumar said: "Historically, Teesside's industries and latterly, suburban house building, eroded local woodland cover to a great degree.

"We now recognise the mistakes of the past and the work of the Tees Forest to see that native trees are planted at sites across the length and breadth of the Tees Valley will be making our community cleaner and greener for future generations.''

Disused farmland around the Ladgate Lane police headquarters has been planted with trees to create the 12.6 hectare Lady Wood.