HUNDREDS of used plastic milk bottles have been turned into a colourful bench for children at Rodbourne Cheney Primary School.

The pupils collected 572 used milk bottles and handed them into David Wilson Homes as part of recycling week, which starts today.

The housebuilder challenged the school to collect as many containers as they could, and then replaced them with a colourful new bench made entirely from recycled bottles.

Liz Matthews, Rodbourne Cheney Primary School eco coordinator said: “The pupils really enjoyed bringing in all their empty milk cartons and watching the skip fill to the top by the end of the week. It was a great way to get them thinking about recycling.

“We’d like to thank David Wilson Homes for organising the project and especially for the brightly coloured bench; it really will bring a touch of colour to our playground. This recycling project has given real results for the children and a sense of achievement knowing that they contributed to creating it.”

The activity, as part of the David Wilson Homes education programme, was organised by the housebuilder to teach children about recycling, enabling them to be part of and experience recycling in action.

David Wilson Homes organised for a plastic collection container to be delivered to the school for a week.

Paul Moran, sales director for David Wilson Homes, said: “We try to recycle as much as we can at Manor Brook and appreciate that sustainability is an extremely important issue. We can all do our bit to help, and this project was a fun and interesting way to teach young people about recycling. I hope that the children took something away from the project and with any luck they will continue the good work in the future.”

Wiltshire residents are being encouraged to wash and squash their plastic bottles for national recycle week.

In May, more than 200 tonnes of plastic bottles were collected from Wiltshire Council's blue lidded bins, on average this means four million of Wiltshire's plastic bottles are recycled each month.

To celebrate the week Wiltshire Council is encouraging residents to use their blue lidded bin to recycle all shapes and sizes of plastic bottles.

Milk, shampoo, bleach, shower gel, and even plastic bottles used outside in the garden or kept in the shed can be washed and squashed and dropped in the blue lidded bin.

For more information visit www.wiltshire.gov.uk/rubbishrecycling.htm.