Nearly £500,000 has been granted to pay for a three-year tree planting project across Warwick district.

The grant has been given to Heart of England Forest from the Trees Call to Action Fund £6million pot, led by Defra, the Forestry Commission and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The project will be run in partnership with Warwick, Stratford-on-Avon, and Wychavon District Councils to engage with landowners and local communities to boost tree planting in the area.

The project will also create four full-time jobs, as well as four forestry apprenticeships, and will provide training for local volunteers.

The Trees Call to Action Fund support projects which protect trees and woodlands, boost forestry skills and jobs, and engage communities with nature.

The fund will give grants between £250,000 and £500,000 to be spent over three years, funding 12 projects across England.

Beth Brook, chief executive at the Heart of England Forest, said: "We are delighted to receive this grant which will provide a springboard for practical partnership work, building on our long-term strategic plans.

"Through our partnership, we will grow momentum within communities and landowners towards creating an environment with more trees, where people understand the wider benefits of woodland and can enjoy them, where we restore lost skills and lost landscapes, and look to a future where forests are once more at the heart of England."

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WDC has already announced plans for its own £5million tree planting project.

Whilst Warwickshire County Council says it wants to plant a tree for every resident in the county.

Cllr Alan Rhead, WDC's portfolio holder for climate change said: "Receipt of this funding is a real boost for our ambitious 'Trees for our Future' campaign and will allow us to facilitate a number of projects in our local community helping us to meet our target of planting 160,000 new trees by 2030, one for every resident living in our district."