Network Rail pledges to spend £1m planting thousands of trees

Conservation charity The Tree Council will plant trees as part of a three-year project with Network Rail

Network Rail has pledged to spend £1m on planting thousands of trees across the south of England.

It said it will work with charity The Tree Council to plant 10,000 in the first 12 months and "many thousands more" over the next three years.

They will be added to a number of locations in Hampshire, Kent, Sussex, Surrey and south London.

But they will not be planted near lines after many were blocked by fallen trees during recent storms.

Network Rail's Sarah Borien helped plant trees in Alton, Hampshire

Sarah Borien, Network Rail's regional head of environment and sustainability, told the BBC: "Trees right next to the railway line can cause us problems in terms of trees falling on the line like they did during the recent storms, or leaf falls causing us problems with adhesion.

"By planting trees away from the operational railway on third-party land, where we create green spaces that local communities can access - it's a bit of a win-win."

Sara Lom, CEO of The Tree Council, said she welcomed the pledge from Network Rail and hopes it will lead to new "beautiful green spaces that benefit people, wildlife and the planet both now and into the future".