Residents helped themselves to ten tonnes of free compost.

The Big Heap giveaway was held on Ranger Street, Accrington, as a way for Hyndburn and Lancashire County councils to say thank you to the people who regularly compost their garden waste.

Last year around 2,300 tonnes was composted by residents – the equivalent of 100 bin wagon loads.

Coun Munsif Dad, deputy leader of Hyndburn council, said composting goes a long way to helping make the borough greener.

He said: "Here in Hyndburn we encourage both home composting and the kerbside collection of garden waste in the green bins.

"If it’s buried in a landfill site garden waste produces methane, a greenhouse gas, so it’s vital that we compost as much of it as possible. Using compost made from garden waste also helps to preserve natural wetland environments because it replaces peat for many uses in the garden."

The giveaway was on Wednesday, August 1.