OKEHAMPTON businesswoman Kay Bickley is looking for a last-minute surge of votes to secure a £10,000 grant for environmental projects in the town.

Kay, who runs Upcott House Bed and Breakfast with her husband, John, is one of the ten Team Green Britain Heroes selected by EDF Energy from various locations around the country as 'champions of sustainability'.

She is the director of EvFriendly, a project which aims to install electric vehicle infrastructure throughout Dartmoor and Exmoor and eventually, the whole of Devon, and hopes that the project will help reduce carbon emissions and encourage tourists to use more sustainable methods of travel in the area.

She has also played a pivotal role in the development of the Okehampton Community Garden, which is going from strength to strength, following a summer of busy activity creating vegetable and flower beds, building sheds and sensory gardens.

If she is awarded the grant, the money will support both EvFriendly and the new community garden.

To claim the prize the ten nominees have put forward their cases online, and people have been able to vote online in the last few months.

EDF Energy, a sustainability partner of London 2012, has given the heroes the opportunity to trial a range of sustainable energy technologies such as air source heat pumps and electric vehicles, and gave them access to a London 2012 event. The heroes have been sharing their experiences online, via the Team Green Britain website. 

Mrs Bickley's aim to be friendly to the environment stretches to her own home life — she has installed energy-efficient lighting on timers, the roof has been insulated and energy monitors analyse electricity usage.

She has also installed solar panels and hopes to soon replace her oil-fired boiler with an air source heat pump, to generate heating and hot water.

She grows fruit and vegetables, and keeps chickens and pigs for eggs, pork and bacon.

The rest of her goods she buys locally, to reduce food miles and support the local economy.

Mrs Bickley also travels in her fully electric car and has an electric vehicle charging point at the B&B for guests and any travellers passing through Devon.

She needs the support of people from Okehampton to win the grant, and voters have until 10am on Saturday, October 6 to vote.