MEMBERS of the Kent Wildlife Trust are to begin work on a new nature reserve to help maintain the rare Great Crested Newt and the scarce man orchid.

Conservation volunteers are being sought for the project that will hopefully ensure habitats for rare and endangered animals and plants at Peters Pit, near the River Medway at Wouldham, will be preserved.

A public inquiry is to be help in the coming months over plans to build 1,000 homes at Peters Pit - and the reserve has been created to ensure that if the homes are built, species do not suffer.

The site lies in an old chalk quarry and during the past five years the owners, first Blue Circle Industries and then Trenport Investments Limited, have financed new ponds and management work, carried out by the wildlife trust.

Volunteers, who do not need to be experienced, are being asked to meet at the site, off Hall Road, at 10am on Sunday, February 2, or Wednesday February 5.

For more information call Debbie Daley, reserves volunteer co-ordinator, on 01622 662012.