MORE than 20 volunteers have helped to plant 150 new trees in the Millennium Baby Woodland in Altham.

A tree planting event was held at the weekend to mark the 30th anniversary of National Tree Week, which runs until Sunday.

The event was organised by the Prospects Foundation and the volunteers who attended helped to plant 150 oak trees to expand the woodland and replace some trees that had not survived the harsh ground conditions resulting from coal waste from the nearby colliery.

The woodland, in Burnley Road, adjacent to St Mary's Burial Ground, is now two years old and was created to celebrate the birth of Hyndburn babies in the year 2000 - a tree was planted for every baby registered with the Prospects Foundation.

It was originally planted in spring 2002 when hundreds of local residents and schoolchildren helped plant more than 1,000 trees.

Mike Stapleford from the Prospects Foundation, an environmental organisation that helps Hyndburn communities improve their surroundings, said: "We wanted to replace a few of the trees that hadn't made it and fill some more of the site.

"When we first created the woodland we had some tree planting days which were attended by a couple of hundred volunteers.

"People became really involved in the project and it became a real community woodland.

"We decided to put out an open invitation again for any volunteers who wanted to come along and help us plant more trees."

The event was also the last meeting of the year for the Prospects Foundation's Volunteer Working Group.

The volunteers meet on the last Saturday of each month to carry out practical maintenance on a variety of the Foundation's projects across Hyndburn.

Their next meeting will be on January 29, 2005, when they will again be planting trees at the Baby Woodland.

For further details call Mike Stapleford on 380176.