THE owners of Skelwith Park Caravan site near Ambleside have confirmed their commitment to preserving one of Cumbria's endangered species during National Red Squirrel Week (September 11-19).

New scientific evidence has given Skelwith even greater determination to continue its work in protecting these creatures as it has become evident that the squirrels that live within the park are particularly rare.

Recent research conducted at Newcastle University has identified the squirrels at Skelwith - the Cumbrian Red Squirrel as a specific sub-species of the British Red. The research suggests that the Cumbrian Red could be the original native bloodline to the earliest red squirrels that colonised the British Isles after the last ice age.

Skelwith Fold owners Henry and Syd Wild have been actively protecting the park's red squirrel population since buying the land in 1998, and the results they have achieved are encouraging. Abundant squirrel feeding platforms dotted around the park's 130 acres as well as stringent grey squirrel control methods have made the park something of a safe haven for the reds.

Dr Peter Lurtz who led the research, based on DNA testing, said: "It is imperative that action is taken to conserve the Cumbrian Red Squirrel, whose genetic diversity would help the overall diversity of the red squirrel species."

Skelwith Fold owner Henry Wild said: "We want people to appreciate red squirrels, and recognise their natural beauty. It would be extremely easy to ignore the plight of red squirrels but at Skelwith Fold we are committed to their preservation. Now researchers say Cumbrian Reds are genetically unique they are even more special and the work we do here has become even more significant."

Red squirrel numbers are now estimated to have dwindled to just 160,000 in the whole of the UK with only 30,000 of that number living in England. When this number is compared to the 2.5 million grey squirrels in the UK then the gravity of the reds' situation becomes clear.

The greys, introduced from America, are larger and more aggressive than the native red. They breed much faster and also carry poxvirus, which is deadly to the red squirrel. Once greys move into the same area as red squirrels the red population has usually been displaced inside just 15 years.