A SUPERMARKET grant scheme has raised £4,000 for a wildlife project.

As part of its Bags of Help initiative, Tesco awarded its latest grant to Wiltshire Wildlife Trust's water team, to help with their work disposing invasive species along the banks of the River Nadder in Salisbury and Wilton.

The funding will be used to train volunteers how to remove species from the river including Himalayan Balsam, a plant that has the ability to cause harm to river habitats and leave the banks unstable.

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Samantha Stork, water team leader said: “We would like to wish a big thank you to all of the Tesco Salisbury and Fordingbridge customers who voted for Wiltshire Wildlife Trust over the past few months.

"We are going to be using this grant to recruit, train and equip local volunteers to help with our Pulling Together project, removing invasive species from stretches of the river locally."

In partnership with environmental charity Groundwork, customers are involved with the Bags of Help scheme as soon as they buy a carrier bag in various Tesco stores, as they are given a token at the checkout, and said token can be used to vote which community project should be awarded the grant.

Tesco's head of community, Alec Brown, said the initiative has been a "fantastic success" and the customer's involvement has been "overwhelming", adding: "It’s such a special scheme because it’s local people who decide how the money will be spent in their community.

"We can’t wait to see the projects come to life.”

Any community project or organisation can be nominated to take part in the scheme, for more information visit the Tesco Bags of Help website.