A working group sitting on St Neots Town Council is in the process of drawing up an action plan as part of its strategy to see the authority become carbon neutral by 2030.

Members of the group, led by the town's deputy mayor, Councillor Christine Green, have been working with St Neots-based Energise to determine the council's carbon footprint as a first step.

Cllr Green says the next step for the group, made up of three town councillors and five members of the public, is to finalise the action plan and present it to full council.

She said: "It is a bit of a daunting journey, but we have had huge support from Energise and the carbon footprint report will help us to formulate a pathway to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.

"The carbon footprint gives us a lot of information about the council's usage, and the highs and lows of energy use, and this will form the basis of our report which will go to the full council, hopefully in July, but possibly September.

"It will be an ongoing process and there is a lot of work to do, but it is exciting and now we have the data we can start researching the council's use of buildings and vehicles and set out the next steps."

Cllr Green added: "As we get under way, we will be inviting all in the town to do the same, sharing what we have learned and how we are going about reducing our carbon footprint. This is not an overnight task but, I believe, nothing we achieve can be more worthwhile than playing our part in making the world safe for our grandchildren."

In February, St Neots Town Council joined hundreds of local authorities across the country in making a public declaration to become carbon-neutral by 2030.

Cllr Green, who represents Priory Church ward, put forward a motion at the full town council and won the backing of all 16 of her fellow councillors.

Cllr Green told the chamber there was a growing movement among parish and district councils to put pressure on government to address climate issues as currently this was "too little and too slow".

Carbon neutral, also called carbon neutrality, is the result of organisations, businesses and individuals taking action to remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they put in to it. The overall goal is to achieve a zero carbon footprint.