NEARLY 30 fruit and nut trees have been planted by volunteers at the Stroud Recreation Ground, Freshwater, as part of a parish council initiative.

Cllr Tom Murphy, a woodland manager, led the project and was on hand to explain how the trees should be planted.

He said: "We planted 22 Southern Fruit Tree and six nut trees as we are looking at making areas of our public space more interesting for people and wildlife.

"These trees will grow edible produce and we are looking at sustainability of local community food supply in the future.

"The parish council is also looking at planting another 420 trees in our local woodland in March as part of an ongoing project to bring more biodiversity to our public open spaces.

"We had a great turnout of volunteers and people put tags on the trees they planted.

"I had a small team of experienced helpers who explained how the trees should be planted because a lot of trees don't last in public spaces."

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