A KEEN Upton gardener will be getting a helping hand with his plants this year... from worms.

Berrick Walton won a wormery after his father Tony entered him in a Worcestershire County Council recycling competition on the radio station Classic Hits.

Mr Walton did not know his father had entered him until he was told he had won.

"It was a total surprise but I've already set the wormery up and it's going really well," he said. "I'm really quite pleased. Well done dad!"

Mr Walton said the wormery would save him money by providing a steady supply of good quality organic compost for his garden.

Worms can naturally compost anything that has lived and died, with best results from organic waste such as vegetable peelings and stale bread.

Council composting development officer Nicola Blight said wormeries were a good way to protect the environment.

"Thirty percent of household waste is organic and can be recycled, so by using a wormery people reduce the waste dumped in landfill sites."