The village of Urchfont has made a bid to be among the greenest communities in Britain with yet another eco-friendly initiative.

Volunteers, councillors and council officers gathered at Oakfrith Wood on Saturday to launch the Oakfrith Working Woodland Co-operative.

The co-operative has developed from the work of the Friends of Oakfrith Wood, a band of hard-working volunteers which, over the last 14 years under the direction of county councillor countryside manager Steve Russell, has transformed what was an unruly jungle into a delightful bluebell wood.

Now they have taken over the thinning out of the wood, formerly carried out by a contractor, and will sell the resulting firewood to members of the local community.

The money from the sale of the firewood will finance further work on the woodland.

Fleur de Rhe-Philipe, county council cabinet member with responsibility for the environment, handed over a brand new chainsaw to Ian Maidment, chairman of the co-operative, to officially launch the scheme at the entrance to the wood on Saturday.

Mr Maidment said: “Welcome to our office! This is the culmination of two years’ work during which we raised the money, trained the people and got accreditation.

“We will be carrying on the work of woodsmen Jesse Fiddler and William Hale.”

Mr Fiddler and Mr Hale were the local woodsmen who replanted the wood after it was clear felled to provide timber for the war effort during World War I.

The trees that they planted are now over 70 years old and, although many are remaining, others are being felled to make way for more native species.

Peter Newell, chairman of the Friends of Oakfrith Wood, said: “Most of the trees they planted were beech, but we want to replace them with species like oak and ash, which allow more light to get through to the ground.”

The latest initiative comes in the wake of numerous projects in Urchfont parish council’s climate friendly community programme.

These include raising awareness of reducing the village’s carbon footprint, waste minimisation (including a regular collection of cardboard and plastic), energy efficiency projects and the funding of a feasibility study into community wind energy.