A NEW 60,000sq m nature reserve has been unveiled by conservationists at Chester Zoo.

Designed to protect threatened British wildlife, the new haven, located outside the boundary of the main zoo, will be free for visitors to enter when it opens on Friday, April 27.

The site is already home to many species such as kingfishers, hedgehogs and harvest mice - there have also been sightings of otters.

A small nature reserve was first built by Chester Zoo in 2013 but the new area is a 600% expansion of the original site.

In forthcoming years the area will develop even futher as plants and wildflowers begin to bloom.

Biodiversity officer at Chester Zoo Sarah Bird said: “This area was formerly used for agriculture, but over the past two years we have been carefully restoring it to allow nature to move in and thrive.

"It now comprises wildflower meadows, ponds, beetle banks, log piles, trees and a reedbed, with a hide for viewing the wildlife.

“Linking into the strip of wetland along the canal, the reserve provides a new wildlife refuge at the zoo, and creates a corridor of habitat allowing species to move through the landscape when they need to.

“We hope visitors will enjoy it too – and if people are inspired to act for wildlife at home in their own gardens then even better.”

Part funded by a £49,144 grant from WREN's FFC Community Action Fund, the nature reserve will boast wide hedges, meadows and rough grassland which will be carefully managed to help declining species such as the hedgehog.

Hedgehogs appear to be declining in the UK at the same rate as tigers globally – at around 5% a year, in both rural and urban habitats.

It's believed that around 30% of the population appears to have been lost since 2002 and it's estimated that there are now fewer than one million hedgehogs left in the UK.

The reserve will also include a walking trail, fully accessible for buggies, wheelchairs and strollers.

TV presenter of Channel 4’s Wild Things, Dr Trevor Dines said: “With more than 97% of our wildflower meadows destroyed since the last world war, everything we can do to put some colour back into the countryside helps.

"The new meadow at Chester Zoo is a thrilling example, which contributes to a total of 2008 acres of new meadows created through HRHs Prince Charles’ Coronation Meadows project.

"I can’t wait to see flowers like yellow rattle, red clover and knapweed appear, providing valuable nectar and pollen to bees, butterflies and other pollinators.”