OXFORD’S historic Town Hall could soon be heated by woodchips as part of a series of initiatives to make it greener.

The idea is part of a £600,000 scheme to help Oxford City Council make its facilities more environmentally-friendly.

The Town Hall’s existing gas-fired boiler would be converted to run on woodchips instead.

City councillor John Tanner, the executive board member for Cleaner, Greener Oxford, said: “We have already got quite a large space for a boiler because it used to be fuelled by coal and we have also still got the storage for coal which we can use for woodchips instead.

“It will be greener in that gas is a non-renewable fuel and its price is continually rising.

“Wood, meanwhile, is constantly renewable because the trees keep growing.”

Mr Tanner said the city council hoped to be able to grow the woodchips locally and estimated that the scheme would pay for itself after about 10 years.

The plan is now out to consultation with a final decision expected as part of next year’s budget discussions.