GAZETTE & HERALD: FARMERS in the Corsham area are being urged to let their hedgerows grow tall and thick to help look after a rare kind of bat.

The Wiltshire Batscape Project has been launched to prevent the Greater Horseshoe breed becoming extinct.

Agri-environment consultant Jemma Batten said bats are not the spooky creatures associated with Halloween or movies like Dracula.

"Bats are in fact as cute as any of our native wild animals, as well as being fitted with awesome navigational systems which enable them to catch tiny bugs whilst zipping around the night sky avoiding all obstacles," she said.

But in recent years all of the UK's 16 resident bat species have declined in number, mainly due to the loss of shelter and feeding grounds.

The Wiltshire Batscapes Project, funded by English Nature, aims to reverse this trend.

Bats need a continuous supply of food during the summer and a wide choice of places to roost or shelter throughout the year.

Anyone can support their local bats by planting wild flowers, herbs and night-scented flowers, all of which attract insects.

Box Mine and Winsley are designated sites of special scientific interest because the Greater Horseshoe bats roost there. Because bats feed within five kilometres of their roost people from Corsham, Colerne, Box and Biddestone are being encouraged to help them.

Dr Batten said: "We want people to let their hedgerows grow up and maintain grazed pasture because the bats rely heavily on dung beetles.

"In particular young bats, when they are building up their feed they fly low over pasture and use it as a landmark.

"If your farm is located within the foraging area of the Greater Horseshoe bats, the way you manage the land may make a real difference to the survival of this important species."

The number of Greater Horseshoes has declined by 90 per cent over the past century, leaving only around 5,000 nationwide.

The area around Corsham supports approximately ten per cent of the current population.

A specialist officer is available to visit residents. They will discuss landscape and habitat management for bats and give advice on financial support for such work.

You can call the Bat Conservation Trust on 0845 1300 228.