CHESHIRE Wildlife Trust has erected a new fence around one of the Natterjack Toad scrapes on its nature reserve at Red Rocks Marsh in Hoylake, and has repaired part of the Wirral Borough Council's boardwalk which runs through the reserve.

"It has fallen into disrepair in the past few years preventing less able visitors to use it," says Jacki Begg, the Trust's Deputy Director and Reserves Officer.

She added: "There have been suggestions that parts of it would have to be closed for safety reasons. Hopefully, funding will help ease the problem."

Natterjacks are now very rare, with only around 30 sites in the country left in which they live. There are only one or two adults left at Hoylake, so there is a serious threat of local extinction.

Added Jacki: "Since the reintroduction of the toads last Summer, we have been looking for funding to enable us to fence around the biggest scrape on the reserve to prevent disturbance to the pools.

"The monies granted to us by the Brock & D. Morgan Fund for Wildlife Conservation has enabled us to do this and safeguard the pools for a further introduction this Summer."

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