WESSEX Water has £10,000 to give away to a local project to improve the environment.

The award is part of the celebrations for the tenth anniversary of the Wessex Watermark a scheme that has supported numerous environmental projects over the last decade.

Wessex Water is offering three special awards in total to large-scale projects, each worth £10,000.

One grant will be awarded in each of the three divisional areas within the Wessex Water region.

It is the first time the Watermark scheme has offered such a large amount of money since it was launched by Wessex Water in 1993 to fund environmental projects in Somerset, Wiltshire, Bristol, Dorset and parts of Hampshire and Gloucestershire.

It is administered by the Conservation Foundation and has awarded hundreds of grants, from £100 up to £2,500.

Gold awards have helped schemes ranging from school pond projects to the creation of wildlife havens.

Now parish councils, action and amenity groups, youth clubs, Guides and Scouts, school, colleges, heritage, environmental and conservation groups are all invited to submit an application for the substantial anniversary awards.

An independent panel of judges, chaired by botanist and TV presenter David Bellamy, will look at all the plans and award a grant each of three areas Dorset, Somerset, and the Wiltshire area including Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset.

Wessex Water provides water to more than one million people and treats sewage from 2.5 million customers living in an area stretching from Bristol to Bournemouth.

Applications forms are available from PR projects adviser Ruth Brown on (01225) 526327.