����ý

A conservation project has been set up on a Cambridgeshire farm to help protect the habitat of otters.

Coldham Farm, between March and Wisbech, has been named as a "Habitat Hero" by its owner, Co-operative Farms.

The farm has successfully installed artificial otter holts on its land and has captured footage of otters repeatedly using them.

Wild flowers and plants have also been sewn to attract pollinating insects including bees and butterflies.

Coldham Farm is one of six Co-operative farms taking part in the Habitat Heroes project, and is also the site of the company's first windfarm, which was set up there in 2005.

Improve surroundings

Assistant farm manager Tom Paybody described his role as both a farmer and a "steward of the environment".

He said: "Any small steps we can take, or changes in farming practice to encourage the habitat, or feeding or breeding sites... is brilliant.

"That's what the Habitat Heroes project is all about."

The co-operative will identify where investments and adaptations can be made on its six Habitat Hero farms to improve the surroundings for endangered or protected species.

The five other farms involved in the project are Goole in Yorkshire, where water voles have been singled out for protection, bats at Tillington in Herefordshire, barn owls at Down Ampney in Gloucestershire, pollinators such as hoverflies, butterflies and bees at Stoughton in Leicestershire, and red squirrels at Blairgowrie in Perthshire.