A GROUP of children helped to plant 500 trees yesterday as part of an environmental initiative.

The youngsters, from Catcote School, Hartlepool, planted the trees at the town's Summerhill Visitor Centre, as part of the Tees Forest Christmas card recycling scheme.

Every year, Tees Forest carries out the project, inviting every school in Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton, Hartlepool and Darlington to collect their cards for recycling.

This year, the scheme has been a big success, with 15 tonnes of Christmas cards being collected from 244 schools across the Tees Valley.

This means that 2,500 trees will be planted in the Tees Forest area through the initiative.