IT dates back centuries and is an old-fashioned means of exchanging goods and services, without using money.

But in the village of Honley a small community has gone back to bartering.

The neighbours swap everything, from fruit and vegetables to eggs freshly laid by their chickens.

They are now hoping that others will following their community-spirited example by going back to basics.

People living in the Bright’s Buildings – a small row of houses on New Mill Road – started exchanging goods with each other a couple of years ago.

Louisa Nardini, who lives there with her family, said: “In the last three years since a few of us moved in it has become more of a little community.

“We would do little things like leave a bunch of broccoli on the doorstep or give a neighbour a packet of coriander seeds and things have grown from there.”

In a bid to become more self-sufficient Louisa and her neighbours overhauled their field-like gardens to grow all kinds of fruit and vegetables.

Some adopted chickens, and the community club together to buy feed in exchange for fresh eggs.

Today neighbours swap vegetables when they see each other, leave goods on the doorstep and even share packets of seeds so other gardens can benefit.

Louisa said: “We’re all working together as a community and it’s lovely.

“We will just swap things when they grow and share the eggs round, and the neighbours will give money to help with their feeds.

“We don’t do things like say ‘I’ll only give you these courgettes if you give me those potatoes’ – we just share everything around.

“The neighbours will do things like share out their rhubarb or split their strawberry seeds for everybody’s gardens.”

For Louisa her community reminds her of her childhood when people were more self-sufficient.

She is hoping more communities will follow their example.

She said: “It reminds me of what it was like when I was a little girl growing up.

“People used to do these things without thinking about it, they had a few hens and their own vegetable plots and would share things.

“It’s a proper old-fashioned sense of community and seems to work really well for us.

“I definitely think more communities should work together, it takes a little bit of effort but you get so much out of it.

“As well as saving money it gets people working together and socialising.

“It also gets the kids out and away from their computers and seeing where their food comes from – my daughter looks after the hens and the other day she made risotto with vegetables picked from the garden.”

Norah Hamill, from Incredible Edible, has been working with the group and other communities on similar projects.

She said: “The exchange system is a very sustainable way of living. It’s self-sufficient and not dependent on money which is important in these uncertain economic times.

“It’s a great way of bringing communities together and learning new skills, like how to rear chickens.

“Other communities are embracing this idea and the hope is that the concept will continue to grow.”