IVY is much in demand for adding indoor festive greenery at Christmas-time but the plant is a growing problem for conservationists out in the wild.

The volunteers at Plantation Wood in Ellesmere were hard at work at the weekend hacking away the highly-invasive, native species which attacks other plants.

Chairman Paul Golborne said: "It completely strangles the trees and kills them so we are getting rid of it.

"We are also removing some of the animals traps around the saplings. They are used to stop rabbits and other animals going after the trees but when the saplings grow they're restricted by the traps so we need to take them out."

Last November the volunteers felled about 20 dead and dying trees and cut away branches that had become dangerous.

Paul added: "We had a survey done and we are now responsible for safety along the paths so we needed to clear some of the trees and branches."

Paul's team were assisted on the day by staff at Ellesmere Co-op who have chosen the Plantation Wood as one of three good causes to support this year.