TOTNES could be in line for a £500,000 Christmas gift to help the town go even greener — and give the town's troubled Civic Hall a new lease of life at the same time.

The town with the national reputation for being environmentally friendly has just been shortlisted in a Government challenge to find the most innovative and effective ways of channelling renewable energy in a community.

If Totnes wins the grant challenge, it will mean more than half a million pounds being pumped into the town's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.

And part of the bid includes looking at how to 'retrofit' the 50-year-old Totnes Civic Hall with insulation in an effort to slash the building's carbon footprint and cut the thousands of pounds a year it costs to heat and light the complex.

The bid to the Department of Environment and Climate Change has been put together by Transition Town Totnes with the support of various environmental groups and the town, district and county councils.

More than 500 bids went in to the Government from around the country.

Totnes is now in the top 10, eight of which will go through to get at least £500,000 each.

Carole Whitty, speaking for Transition Town Totnes, said: "This is a major research project. If we get it, all eyes will be on Totnes."

And her town council deputy leader husband Tony Whitty added: "This could be an early Christmas present for Totnes."

He said the decision on which projects would get the Government cash would be made by December 21.

"All we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope Christmas arrives early," he added.

Transition Town Totnes' bid involves setting up 'transition streets' where sections of the community can work together to identify ways of shrinking their carbon footprints.

If Totnes is one of the lucky eight bids, part of the cash will be spent on solar panels.

Part of the bid also includes looking at way to make the town's Civic Hall more efficient.

Transition Town Totnes is now a world-renowned organisation which has been helping to drive forward other transition town projects around the globe.

It has championed all kinds of sustainability projects from the alternative Totnes Pound to nut tree planting operations to green up the town's open spaces with trees that produce community harvests.