There is just a week left for would-be Osca winners to submit entries for Oxfordshire's premier conservation awards.

The curtain will come down on entries for the 2006 Oxfordshire Sustainability & Conservation Awards next Friday.

The pick of the county's green projects will go on to win one of the £1,000 prizes.

The awards are jointly run by the Oxford Mail's sister paper The Oxford Times and Oxfordshire County Council to recognise the people working behind the scenes to make Oxfordshire a greener and cleaner place.

Schools, community groups, businesses and individuals are all invited to enter environmental projects.

Groups that have recently set up new waste reduction and energy-saving schemes will be in the running for prize money, along wth local clean-up campaigns and conservation initiatives.

Projects can be entered in one of four new categories for the 2006 awards. These are: waste minimisation; energy efficiency and renewables; biodiversity and grounds development; and water efficiency.

This year organisers are also seeking nominations for a new award for community environmental champions, for people who make a difference in their workplace or local area.

As well as receiving an Osca, the top project from each cate- gory, picked by a panel of judges, will receive £1,000 prize money. Also up for grabs will be a chance for all those applying to receive smaller cash prizes in the judges' special awards.

The Oscas, formerly the Oxfordshire Special Conservation Awards, have been renamed this year to put greater emphasis on sustainability and energy reduction.

The Oscas are again being sponsored by npower, owners of Didcot A&B Power Stations. Thames Water will be sponsoring the water efficiency award.

Most entries so far have been received from schools but the organisers are also hoping to attract entries from community groups and businesses.

All those shortlisted to receive an award will be invited to a special presentation ceremony at County Hall in the autumn, when the winners will be announced and the prizes presented.

Past winners include school wildlife projects, recycling schemes, environmental information services and an innovative waste wood heating project.

To nominate schemes, email oscas@oxfordshire. gov. uk with details of why you are nominating them (150 words maximum), and full contact details.