A COMMUNITY orchard has been planted for residents to enjoy apples, pears and plums grown in their own neighbourhood.

Thirty trees have been planted at the site in the field between Rawcliffe Lake Nature Reserve and Clifton with Rawcliffe Primary School as part of the project and the orchard is expected to bear its first fruit in the next two to three years.

The scheme, launched by Treemendous York in partnership with the Northern Orchards Group and Rawcliffe Parish Council, was supported by a £500 donation from Redrow Homes. Primary school pupils will help maintain the orchard and pick the fruit.

Paul Clough, chair of the Northern Orchards Group, said: “We’ve kept almost half of the field for dog walkers and transformed the rest of the area into the community orchard, which will be maintained by volunteers. We will need to fundraise for its upkeep, so contributions like Redrow’s are very valuable.”