ST HELENS Council is to bid for grants from the Forestry Authority to help improve woodland areas in the town.

The bids include money to support the management of 20 woodland sites covering 74.5 hectares.

Grants will also be sought for improvement to woods including Clinkham Wood, Stanley Bank Wood, Glass House Wood and Renfrew Avenue Wood. The council is bidding for £37,105 - half the £74, 210 total cost of these projects.

Improvement works at these sites include upgrading footpath links, providing better access, thinning trees and selective felling at some of the sites.

In addition, the council is seeking an estimated £42,000 towards woodland schemes at the former Derbyshire Hill Primary School site, Scholes Lane playing field and Sutton Brook Greenway. Work will include tree planting, access controls, providing signs and repairs to a stone wall and stone path.

Grants will also be sought towards the total cost - £50,485 - of woodland planting.

Councillor Keith Deakin, chairman of the council's Leisure Committee, said: "The council is committed to improving the environment within the borough. Our work on woodlands is a key area in helping to transform and revitalise these locations which can be enjoyed by the public."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.