The sun shone on volunteers as they turned out to plant thousands of new trees in a Sandridge Forest. 

Around 500 people visited Heartwood Forest on Saturday to help plant 10,000 trees.

The trees were the last of 90,000 that the charity has planted during the course of the winter, as part of the Woodland Trust’s bid to create England’s largest native woodland.

Louise Neicho, Woodland Trust site manager, said: "It was the perfect spring day on Saturday and it was great to see so many people get stuck in to help plant trees. We would not be able to create Heartwood Forest without community support and it’s fantastic to see so many people helping out year after year. "The trees planted will hopefully be in the ground for a very long time, providing homes and food for wildlife and a pleasant wooded space for people to enjoy too."

More than 425,000 have already been planted on site in just five years, with monitoring surveys suggesting the new trees are already having a positive impact on wildlife.

For more information about upcoming summer events or to become a volunteer email: heartwood@woodlandtrust.org.uk