The Woodland Trust in St Albans is celebrating scooping a prestigious environmental and community award.

The trust was named as winner of the ‘Rebuilding Biodiversity’ category for their ‘Heartwood Forest - increasing native woodland in Hertfordshire’ project at the Biffa Awards 2014.

As a category winner they received £2,000 in prize money, which they can use to further develop their project.

The project has enabled thousands of volunteers to plant 295,000 trees, creating 120 hectares of new native woodland over three years whilst also linking up four pockets of ancient woodland.

Louise Neicho, Woodland Trust Site Manager, said: "We’re delighted to receive this recognition from Biffa Award, it is testament to the hard work of every single person who has supported the trust locally over the last five years and especially our Heartwood volunteer group.

"Over 400,000 trees have now been planted and the wood is really taking shape with wildlife increasingly making its home on site too."

Administered by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, Biffa Award distributes grants to environmental and community projects, using landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Group Ltd.

This year’s awards were held at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. Gillian French, Biffa Award Programme Manager, said: "The project has not only sown the seeds for what will undoubtedly be an important pocket of woodland, it has also provided a number of local communities with a connection to their local environment, which should be applauded."

The next planting event on site will take place on Sunday 16 November between 10am and 3pm.