STAFF and volunteers have planted more than 300 metres of hedgerow along a path near Swindon.

Around 30 staff from outdoor clothing firm Timberland's shops in Bicester, Swindon and Lon-don planted hedgerows along the Chiseldon Trail, which runs between Coate Water in Swindon and Chiseldon.

The path is also part of National Cycle Route 45, which takes cyclists on a traffic-free route from Salisbury to Cheltenham.

Every year Timberland holds an event for Earth Day, a global celebration of environmental awareness, education and service.

It sees thousands of staff across the world leave the shops for a few hours and do something for the environ-ment.

Martin Young from Timberland was the project leader on the day.

He said: "Earth Day is our community service to the local community.

"We had a fantastic day and it was hard work but we have given something back to the community and we managed to do all of that in the day we were given."

Patrick Norris, Swindon Council officer for the Great Western Community Forest said that the volunteers did a great job.

He said: "I think planting hedgerows is harder work than they expected but the volunteers have done a very good job. The path provides an all-weather and all-year round traffic-free path for cyclists and those who just want to go for a walk between Swindon and Chiseldon."

The path was launched in November last year and is two and half miles in length.

It is clearly marked and surfaced like the trails in Wroughton and Purton which opened in 2002.

Anthony Osborne