IN years to come, Councillor Mike Stephen will have been outgrown by his ambition.

It has always been his wish to see a tree planted for every child living in Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's district.

Yesterday, he helped youngsters to sow the first batch of a total of 24,000 tree seeds intended to be planted.

Mike was the district's mayor in 1999, his civic year coming to an end in May, this year, by which time 11,000 seeds had been gathered. That figure has more than doubled since then.

The seeds are being planted in an enclosure at council nurseries at Kirkleatham, near Redcar. In two to three years' time, the saplings will be uprooted and planted out at various sites across east Cleveland.

The two main areas to benefit will be the Marshall Drive playing field at Brotton, and Whitecliffe Woods, near Loftus Bank, where trees were lost due to major engineering works.

Coun Stephen, who inaugurated a family wood at Redcar when he was mayor, said yesterday: "I admit I always thought it was a bit ambitious, but it just shows that the residents, and particularly the children of the borough, really care about the environment."

ICI sponsored the Year of the Tree project during Coun Stephen's civic year. The Tees Forest and North York Moors National Park are partners in the seed planting project.

Coun Stephen said: "I must thank all the project partners for maintaining their enthusiasm well after the end of my civic year and I'm really pleased that at last I can start the seed planting to begin what I hope will be a lasting legacy across Redcar and Cleveland.''