A history of Putley featuring a collection of stories from villagers has been put together by one of its residents.

Putley Celebrates the Millen-nium tells the tale of a century of the small Herefordshire village, seven miles from Ledbury, and is edited by Helen Arthur.

Helen, who has lived in the village for 17 years and written three books on whisky, was asked to write the book by Putley Parish Council as part of Millennium celebrations.

"It's the peoples' story," she said. "I interviewed some of the older people of the village who had some interesting tales. It's taken a lot of time but it's been a community effort."

The book was due to come out at Easter but was del-ayed following the foot and mouth disease outbreak, which led to the cull of all of one villager's livestock and affected several others.

Following a general history of the village in the 1940s and another in 1976, the book is the third to be written on Putley, which has about 240 inhabitants.

It features many photos, both colour and black-and-white, which highlight the radical changes the village has undergone over the past 100 years.

"The book was originally intended to be just for the village, but there's been a lot of outside interest," said Helen. "Putley is one of those wonderful villages in Herefordshire off the beaten track. It is a lovely place to live."

The history is priced £6.50 and is available from Putley Post Office or Ledbury Books and Maps.