Nature reserves in the district's clay-yielding Bovey Basin have received a cash lifeline to help boost the populations of vulnerable reptiles and amphibians.

Devon Wildlife Trust has been awarded a grant of almost £50,000 from Biffaward, a multi-million pound environment fund managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts which utilises landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Waste Services through the Landfill Communities Fund. 

The trust was able to secure the grant only after donations from The Marjorie and Geoffrey Jones Charitable Trust and minerals giant Sibelco UK.

The project will run over three years at Bovey Heathfield and Chudleigh Knighton Heath. Other reserves to benefit are at Lickham Common and Ashculm Turbary in the Blackdown Hills.

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