HUNDREDS of trees have been planted in a project to improve Hartlepool's environment.

Hartlepool Borough Council's Pride in Hartlepool campaign has stumped up two grants totalling £1,500 to fund the work.

A grant of £972 was awarded to Greatham Parish Council, and this helped pay for 600 trees to be planted alongside the southbound carriageway of the A689 between the villages of Greatham and Newton Bewley.

The trees were planted by members of a 12-strong New Deal Environmental Task Force (ETF), under the supervision of the council's parks and countryside section.

ETF project officer Andrew Crags said: "A mixture of tree types, including wild cherry, ash, holly and Scots pine, were planted and the intention was to create an attractive wooded screen alongside the road between the two villages."

A further grant of £500 was given to a group of residents, known as Copse and Robins, on the town's Clavering Estate, to help them look after an area of land in Muirfield Walk, that they have adopted.

Members of the group recently gathered at the site to plant trees and carry out other environmental works.