Crightons of Peterborough is doing its part to soak up emissions by sponsoring a new woodland area to be planted on five acres of Thorpe Meadows.

The planting of 1,500 trees began in 1999. A similar number were planted a year later when nearly 300 children from eight schools in the city were ferried down to the site by a shuttle service of coaches laid on by Crightons and English Partnerships. They planted trees they had raised from seed at school, and helped to plant a further 1,500 saplings.

Iain Crighton, managing director of the Saab and Mitsubishi site, said: “We want to make our city enjoyable for tourists and ourselves – and one of the great attractions of somewhere like Nottingham, for instance, is Sherwood Forest.

“If we drew up a plan for further linked woodlands through the Nene Country Park that other city businesses might like to sponsor, we could develop a forest in our city.”

Crighton, who is also chairman of the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, also said: “We cannot abolish the internal combustion engine, but we can reduce the effect it has on global warming. Car designers have made great strides in the past few years in reducing the harmful emissions from motor vehicles. They will make further advances to develop power units that are even cleaner.

“Planting more trees is a good way of reducing the effect of emissions still further and makes a contribution to our environment at the same time.”