VISITORS to a district council’s headquarters are being encouraged to drop off their Christmas cards for recycling this month.

Hambleton District Council is supporting the Woodland Trust’s aim to plant 12,000 trees - an area half the size of London Zoo.

Cards can be dropped at the Civic Centre, at Stone Cross, in Northallerton, throughout January.

Christmas card recycling bins have also been installed in branches of WH Smith, Tesco and Marks and Spencer across the district.

Last year, more than 59 million cards were recycled by the trust bringing the total over 12 years to 659 million.

That has enabled it to plant 155,000 trees and save 13,080 tonnes of paper from going to landfill.

Lucy Woodall, the district council’s recycling officer, said: "It has never been easier to recycle Christmas cards – simply drop them in a recycling bank when going shopping, or in the case of the civic centre when calling in to check out a planning application or pay a bill.

"The more woodland we create the more we can preserve the countryside, create habitats for our wildlife to live in and places for us to visit.

"And the good news this year for local residents is that if they visit the Woodland Trust web site and pledge to recycle, they can choose the planting region for the trees they are helping to fund."

The banks will be open at the stores and the Civic Centre until January 31.

For more information, visit woodlandtrust.org.uk