AN environmental charity has launched a woodland task force.

It has been started by Derwentside's Acorn Trust, and is part of the Groundwork project, funded by the Single Regeneration Budget, European Social Fund and Employment Services.

Four trainees, Norman Adamson, Kevin Blackwood, Alan Platt and Jeff Smith, recruited from the district, will learn such skills as chainsaw use, strimming, and tree planting.

Their first job will be to plant 50,000 trees around Kyo, near Stanley, with further work in Watling Wood, Allensford, and Acorn Wood, South Stanley.