A RAWTENSTALL school is digging down for a green future.

St James the Less RC Primary Road has been awarded a grant from The Tree Council to celebrate National Tree Week, which runs until December 3.

The Burnley Road school was one out of 5,000 nationwide to be selected by the environmental charity.

It has used the £500 grant to buy 250 trees, and on Saturday morning pupils and their parents joined staff to plant them in the school grounds.

Headteacher Alan Mooney said: "We've applied for a grant before, so we were really pleased to get it this time.

"We've been on site for 10 years and have tried to plant trees in the past, but the soil is not particularly good in some areas, so they just haven't taken and it's really quite sparse in some areas.

"Hopefully with this boost we can create some shade for the children, and a nice outdoor environment where we can hold classes in the summer, it will make an enormous difference."

The Tree Council has awarded grants totalling £45,000 to 82 primary, secondary and special needs schools, and 62 community groups.

Each of them will be planting trees this week as part of the annual festival to mark the start of the winter planting season.

Its other aim is to encourage children to get involved with trees in their school and community.

Mr Mooney said: "The children have been very involved, helping to plan where the trees are going, and many of the pupils' families have sponsored a sapling, in memory of relatives.

Director general of The Tree Council, Pauline Buchanan Black, said: "We are able to get these grants thanks largely to the generosity of an anonymous charitable foundation, which is particularly keen to encourage children to take part in community tree plantings.