OLD Christmas trees have been put to good use at Colchester Zoo.

The Safer Colchester Project collected them from homes in the Shrub End and St Michael’s areas of the town as part of Operation Christmas Tree.

The festive trees were collected on Friday and handed to the zoo at the weekend.

Pupils from Kingsford Junior, St Michael’s Primary, Montgomery Junior, Gosbecks Primary and Alderman Blaxill schools went behind the scenes at the zoo to see how the trees would be used.

Ten lucky youngsters were selected for the visit after winning a poster competition to publicise the scheme.

Anthony Tropeano, Colchester Zoo’s director, thanked the agencies and borough councillors involved.

He said: “The Christmas trees will either be recycled into compost, or those still in good condition will be used to provide enrichment for the animals. They will give animals like primates and carnivores something to climb on and play with, and sniff out new scents.

“We can even use the trees to hide food in to keep species engaged in spending time hunting out their food.”

PC Lee Ward, from the Safer Colchester Project, said: “Many of the children who visited the zoo were from Army families, so it was fantastic to be able to give them this treat when a lot of them will have parents and relatives in Afghanistan at the moment.

“We’re grateful for the zoo’s support on this scheme, as it is a real opportunity to bring the community together.”