ONE of Cumbria's most famous sons is highlighting the plight of the region's threatened farmland birds.

Melvyn Bragg who presents The South Bank Show returned to his home town of Wigton in order to visit farmer Martin Baird at Red Hall Farm.

Mr Baird's efforts to save threatened species, with the help of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' Countryside Steward Scheme (CSS) - has won praise from the Government and local bird experts alike.

Lord Bragg wrote about Red Hall Farm early in his career when it was still a Clydesdale stud farm. But when Cumbria Bird Club sent Lord Bragg a copy of its award-winning book, The Breeding Birds of Cumbria - A Tetrad Atlas 1997-2001, he was shocked to hear of the decline of many of the county's special birds.

Among the birds which have suffered catastrophic losses over the past 30 years are the tree sparrow, grey partridge, lapwing, curlew, snipe, skylark, corncrake, corn bunting, black and red grouse.

Cumbria Bird Club spokesman Peter Ullrich said: "Martin Baird's passion makes his farm a flagship for the conservation of farmland birds and, in recognition of that, Melvyn Bragg will present him with a copy of the atlas on our behalf."

John Bowman of the Rural Development Service in Cumbria also praised the farm. He said: "Red Hall is an excellent example of how a working dairy farm can incorporate conservation measures into an intensive farming system."

"Mr Baird has been involved with CSS for many years, creating ponds and restoring hedgerows on the farm. More recently Mr Baird has added a comprehensive range of arable options with grass margins, conservation headlines, over wintered stubbles and wild bird-seed mixes, providing year-round habitat for seed-eating birds such as grey partridges and tree sparrows."