A greenhouse made from recycled plastic bottles, a chicken run and raised vegetable beds will be among the features of an imaginative new allotment taking shape at a York school.

Millthorpe School, in Nunthorpe Avenue, has launched the sustainable project after receiving a £2,000 grant from Northern Gas Networks. The green oasis is being created by pupils and staff on a patch of disused land within the school grounds.

As well as producing fresh fruit and vegetables for the school to use in the canteen and in cooking lessons, the allotment will allow students to take part in projects directly linked to the education curriculum.

Raised beds have already been created on the site, with the first vegetable shoots pushing up through the soil.

A chicken run is also taking shape.

Meanwhile, pupils and teachers are busy collecting 1,500 plastic bottles, which will be added to a wooden frame to make a DIY recycled greenhouse.

Dave Sladen, from the school, School said: “Our allotment site promises to be a fantastic new resource for the whole school.”