It was on with the wellies, manning the spades and getting the hands dirty as people across Oxfordshire planted hundreds of trees to mark the Millennium.

Beaver scouts did their bit planting saplings at Youlbury Scout Camp, Boars Hill, near Oxford, with a bit of help from grown ups.

In Cholsey, near Wallingford, villagers planted a total of 350 saplings of different native British species on the Jubilee Field behind the primary school.

Meanwhile in Bampton, villagers were bringing to birth a new Shillbrook Wood on the outskirts of Bampton on Saturday one of 250 schemes throughout the UK supported by the national Woodland Trust.

Residents, including children from the village's primary school, turned out to plant a variety of species on seven and a half acres of land at Buckland Road.

The Millennium Wood has been funded through local fundraising, plus grants from a variety of groups and organisations including West Oxfordshire District Council and the Trust for Oxfordshire's Environment.

Andrew Beer, of the Woodland Trust, said: "The wood will be a fantastic amenity for people for the benefit of everyone in the area. It will also benefit wildlife by providing an important new habitat."

The Bampton scheme is part of the last leg of the Woodland Trust's ambition to see a million new trees planted across the UK as a Millennium legacy.

Project supporter Colin Allport, of Market Square, Bampton, said: "We shall all have something we can see develop and be able to have a legacy for the enjoyment of our children and generations yet to come."