Thirty 'twinning trees' have been planted in St Nicholas Park to celebrate a partnership of more than 30 years between Warwick and its twin town of Verden in Germany.

The event follows a similar tree planting which took place in Verden last year.

The initiative has been led by Warwick Town Council with funding and tree planting support from Warwick District Council.

The planting of the 30 trees comes ahead of Warwick welcoming a team of young adults from Verden to the town next summer as it hosts EuroCamp 2023.

The two-week event will bring young people from Warwick, its twin towns of Verden (Germany) and Saumur (France), and its friendship towns of Havelberg (Germany), and Formigine (Italy), together for a cultural experience and community art project.

The Eurocampers will perform the unveiling of the commemorative signage and see the trees in their summer leaves next July.

Mayor of Warwick, Cllr Parminder Singh Birdi, and WDC's vice-chairman and portfolio holder for green spaces Cllr Sidney Syson and Cllr Judith Falp, were joined by representatives from the town council, including Cllr Noel Butler, Cllr Richard Eddy, and the town clerk, Jayne Topham to help plant white and pink cherry tree saplings.

Cllr Birdi commented: "The colourful cherry trees here in St Nicholas Park are a symbol of the friendship between our respective towns and the connection everyone who lives in Verden and Warwick continues to enjoy today.

"We look forward to welcoming the young people from Verden and our other partner towns to see the trees as part of EuroCamp 2023."

Warwick was twinned with Verden, in Lower Saxony in Germany, in 1991.

Cllr Syson added: "We were delighted to lend our support to this project, symbolising friendship, partnership and hope for the future.

"I am very much looking forward to seeing the colourful trees coming into bloom and hope it inspires our community to take action to enable similar schemes be they big or small."

The ceremony precedes the start of National Tree Week (26 November to 4 December), during which WDC will be showcasing a number of other 'Trees for our Future' projects currently in progress as part of its promise to plant 160,000 new trees by 2030, one for every resident living in the district.