Two Ayr schools have been recognised for their efforts to reduce waste and create a more environmentally-friendly environment.

Kyle Academy and Southcraig School are the first joint-winners of the Provost's Footprint Challenge, awarded annually to secondaries in South Ayrshire.

Both schools ran projects such as growing their own vegetables, introducing split recycling bins, running cooking clubs using local produce and supporting the WWF's Earth Hour campaign.

Kyle was awarded the first ever Fairtrade and Climate Change Award at the Scottish Fairtrade Forum Awards, while Southcraig placed bricks in cisterns across the school to save 1100 litres of water every year.

Girven Academy took the runner-up award after taking part in large-scale community litter collections.

South Ayrshire Provost Helen Moonie said the standard of entry had been particularly high this year.

She said: "More people than ever before are talking about the best ways to protect and improve our environment by taking simple measures such as cutting down on plastics, so this year's awards came at an important time.

"The Footprint Challenge gets our young people thinking about practical ways of helping reduce energy use and challenge stubborn habits to help save money and reduce waste.

"We literally couldn't decide on one single winner this year so we took the unprecedented step of announcing the two strongest entries as joint winners. However, I'd like to thank everyone who took part, with all our entries showing real insight about tackling simple issues we all face every single day."