The Perthshire town of Comrie has been heralded as an excellent example for other communities in working together to cut the town's carbon footprint.

The town in partnership with Scottish and Southern Energy will be undertaking a new major street-by-street home insulation project to reduce household heating bills.

Furthermore, the community is planning to pursue sustainable development of nearby land, improved composting and recycling, local food production and a village transport plan.

Commenting on Comrie, Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "I would urge communities across Scotland to look at what is happening in Comrie and to think about how they could follow suit. The people of Letham in Perth and Alyth in Strathmore are already gearing up for the insulation project to be rolled out in their areas.

"Here is a small town in Perthshire that has had the initiative to apply to the Climate Challenge Fund and work with a major power company."

Green MSP Patrick Harvie added: "Where Comrie leads, we believe the rest of Scotland will follow.

"Properly insulating our homes is the best way to tackle fuel poverty, improve health, and beat climate change all at the same time. In particular, this kind of comprehensive programme brings real benefits for the community, is far more cost efficient, and has a much better chance of delivering savings than narrowly targeted alternatives.

"We're also delighted to see Scottish and Southern Energy playing such a constructive role in this project. They realise that energy companies will have to help deal with the three key problems of climate change, fuel poverty and our dependence on fossil fuels, and I am confident they will play their part."

The Comrie Development Trust has been given £300,000 from the Climate Change Fund to make the improvements to the town's carbon footprint.