AN undercover gardening movement has arrived in Nottingham.

Armed with "ammunition" of seeds, the group Guerillas of Love aims to transform derelict public spaces into beautiful and productive gardens.

Known as guerilla gardening, the national movement started in New York in 1973 and has spread across the world, with the practice of secret cultivation first being recognised in the UK in London in 2004.

It has now appeared in Nottingham for the first time and the Guerillas of Love group is planning to turn rundown spaces in the city into fruit and vegetable gardens.

The group's actions are technically illegal because it is transforming land it does not own. But Guerillas of Love founder Chris Tomlinson, 40, of Forest Fields, said he would challenge anyone who tried to arrest him.

"I have been stopped by police two or three times before because they said that I was trespassing," said Mr Tomlinson, who, before moving to Nottingham, concentrated on creating gardens in Hastings.

"It is trespassing but I'll challenge anyone who says they are going to arrest me because how do you make it stand up?

"What I'm doing is in my heart and that is creating a really nice area to live in."

He has already planted seeds in some of the barren areas of Forest Fields but said the results would probably not be seen until spring.

His first big plant will take place within the next few weeks, with the arrival of fruit trees bought with donations of £300 from cosmetics firm Lush and £200 from green electricity company Ecotricity.

"We can live on a planet of colour and life if we choose and it only takes a pocket of seeds to do it," said Mr Tomlinson, who has been gardening since the age of 12, when his grandfather taught him.

"I'm not on a political movement or anything. People do see it as that but I try to live my life through following my heart and I do it because I love doing it. It's as simple and mundane as that.

"There are also a lot of other benefits.

"A lot of areas which I choose to plant are deprived, so I'm enhancing the wildlife, feeding the community and, while I'm doing it, I've got people coming up to me and asking what I'm doing, so through it I'm also building communities."

Anyone interested in becoming involved in Guerillas Of Love should contact Chris Tomlinson on 0845 458 95 95.