NEW saplings have been planted at a park in York by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress.

The planting, on land next to Huntington Road, was part of a scheme from the Rotary Club of York to plant a tree for every child born in the city in 2018 and 2019.

So far, more than 1200 trees have been planted across a wide area, in two planting sessions.

Varieties planted are a mix of native broadland species including oak, birch, hawthorn and hazel.

The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, Cllr Keith Orrell and his wife Judith, joined a team of volunteers from Nestle, organised by York Cares, rotarians and Woodland Trust representative Derek Utley.

Cllr Orrell said: “One of the first mayoral engagements we had last June was to plant the first tree for this venture in the garden of the register office on Bootham.

“It was, therefore, excellent to join this session and even better that it was in my ward of Huntington and New Earswick.

“It was good to meet up with all the people from Rotary again and the helpers from York Cares.”