GEOLOGY trails will be set up across Worcestershire and Herefordshire thanks to a £96,000 Lottery grant.

The Herefordshire and Worcestershire Earth Heritage Trust hopes to use the money to set up 20 new trails throughout the two counties to highlight interesting rock and fossil sites.

The trust has already published five guides for places such as Symonds Yat and Wigmore Glacial Lake in Herefordshire.

But the trails are not just for walkers. One, the Explore Worcester Cathedral Building Stones Trail, gives a tour of the Cathedral based on the different rocks incorporated into the building.

The latest guide, Explore the Severn Valley Railway, is thought to be the first trail in the UK to provide a guide to landscape and geology from a railway carriage.

"We have already established five trails and produced printed trail guides which are proving very popular," said Peter Oliver, the trust's director.

"We plan to set up 20 trails and print 20 guides so this funding will make a significant impact on our work," Dr Oliver said.

Ideas for future trails include Great Malvern Building Stones Trail and Malvern Hills Geology and Landscape by Car.

The trust, based at University College Worcester, also works with other local authorities to preserve regionally important geological sites.

Rock and Fossil Roadshows were also held by the trust at University College Worcester and Hereford Shire Hall for 100 primary and first school pupils.

The children took part in activities including making plaster of Paris casts of fossils, rubbings and identifying rock types.

"The work we do is being seen as increasingly important by a number of groups and we are delighted that we continue to receive grant funding for so many projects," said Dr Oliver.

"We have developed a reputation for delivering for delivering excellent results and that's something we intend to continue to do."