ANCIENT hedges which have vanished from a Lake District valley are being replaced in a major community conservation project.

The Forestry Commission has teamed up with farmers in the Grizedale Valley, groups of volunteers and local school children to replant hedges which have been destroyed or removed in the past 25 years.

The loss of these hedges, which are the lifeblood for small species of wildlife, deprives insects, birds and other creatures with the loss of food and nesting sites.

Also involved in the work - which covers about 500 metres of ground - is award-winning hedge layer Robert Bell, of Kendal, who specialises in using the traditional Westmorland method of hedgelaying by laying old stems from the off-cuts of the original hedge.

Where there are no trees left, or gaps in the hedgerow, the Forestry Commission is planting native trees and shrubs, including hawthorn, hazel blackthorn and crab apple, all grown from seed collected in the area.

Pupils from Satterthwaite Primary School have joined in with the project, helping to plant the small trees, which are put in the ground when they are only about 30cm high.

Graeme Prest, Lakes Forest district manager, said: "Hedgerows have existed since Anglo Saxon times and they make a huge impact on an area, breaking large fields up, joining small pockets of woodland together and linking the forest boundary with the valley woodlands.

"In recent years many have been destroyed, removed or degraded and it's become a serious problem for the conservation of wildlife as well as spoiling the landscape."

The work is part of the Forestry Commission's long-term conservation plan for the Grizedale Valley.