Bradford district's nine civic Christmas trees will help the Council cut its carbon footprint as they are turned into wood chips to heat City Hall once festivities have finished.

The trees are usually taken away to be recycled and turned into mulch but this year, for the first time, Bradford Council will be recycling them itself to fuel its new bio-mass boilers.

The logs will be chopped up and then turned into woodchips to be burnt in the boilers, which will be installed in City Hall and Ilkley Town Hall next year.

The branches will be shredded and turned into a mulch which will be used on the district's flower beds.

Chipping will take place at Peel Park nursery, run by the Council's culture, tourism and sport department in the New Year.

The new biomass boilers will be fuelled by woodchips collected from the parks and landscapes department It is part of the Council's pledge to reduce its carbon emissions by 20 per cent by 2010/2011. The measures will also save the Council money on energy costs in the long term.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, the executive member for environment and culture, said: "Usually the trees are transported for recycling but this year we can recycle them ourselves in our own facilities, which saves on cost and also reduces our carbon footprint.

"The trees have been lovely this year and it's nice to know that after everyone has enjoyed them, they will be put to good use to heat City Hall."

Earlier this year, the Telegraph & Argus reported on the Council's decision to look into grants for new sources of heating and electricity which could reduce its energy costs.

A report by Councillor Michael Ellis identified ways of cutting energy consumption after fuel bills spiralled.

He called for the Council to create a woodland management scheme which would provide fuel for the wood chip boilers being installed. He also wanted the Council to consider heat-treating the waste it collects to form biomass fuel which could then be used to create heat or electricity.

This is one of the options the Council is considering as it looks to sign a long-term £400 million contract to build a treatment plant for the district's waste.