Residents are transforming a sports pitch by planting 1,000 trees and plan to turn tennis courts into a vegetable patch.

More than 100 volunteers turned out to the Oxford University land behind White House Road, off Abingdon Road, on Sunday to begin the project.

They are renting the rarely-used land from Corpus Christi College for the sum of one jar of honey a year.

Ash, hazel, rowan, crab apple, oak, willow and lime trees were planted and there are also plans for a vegetable patch in the old tennis courts and beehives in a corner of the field.

The scheme is the brainchild of city green groups Low Carbon West Oxford (LCWO) and West Oxford Community Renewables (WOCR).

Lois Muddiman, from WOCR, said: “There will be community woodlands, a community orchard, and community beehives and it will be a great place to come and spend time with your family.

“But the main reason we are here is the CO2 saving.”

She added: “It is going to be a resource run and enjoyed by the community for generations to come.”

Rod Chalk, of LCWO, said: “It is important to plant trees because it is a fantastic amenity for local people but it also sequesters carbon.

“And this area has been pretty much neglected since I have lived here.”

He added: “It is also important to get kids interested because it is their future.

“I will be dead by the time these trees are fully mature but it will be important for the future generations.”

Daughter Gemma, five, added: “I want to come back here in 10 years when it looks like a forest.”