Beetle hunt begins at Lennon home

John Lennon lived at the house with his Aunt Mimi (Pic: NTPL/Dennis Gilbert)

The garden of John Lennon's childhood home is being surveyed by ecologists who are hoping to find more beetles making themselves at home.

The National Trust, which owns the house known as Mendips in Woolton, Liverpool, is carrying out the wildlife survey on the 100ft-long (30m) garden.

The trust has been carrying out surveys at its properties since 1979 to ensure animal and plant life is looked after.

Aside from beetles, experts will look out for birds, moths and butterflies.

The L-shaped garden of the semi-detached house on Menlove Avenue is dominated by an expanse of lawn but has borders with shrubs, roses, rhododendron and laurels.

There are some trees at the back of the garden and also a fruit tree.

'Important habitats'

During the survey on Tuesday, ecologists will set humane traps for moths and butterflies and take a record of any birds seen on the site.

Peter Brash, an ecologist with the National Trust, said: "Gardens are really important habitats for wildlife and can be home to a whole host of different species that lurk behind sheds and in the borders.

"The back garden at Mendips has been fairly undisturbed for years so fingers crossed that we'll find some interesting wildlife... and no doubt a few species of beetle."

The results of the survey will be published in the autumn and will help inform any future planting in the garden to create refuges for wildlife and attract wildlife into the garden.

Lennon lived at the house with his Aunt Mimi from the age of five to 23.

It was donated to the National Trust by his widow, Yoko Ono, in March 2002 and was restored to the way it looked when he lived there in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Visitors are able to take a joint tour of Mendips and the former home of Sir Paul McCartney in Forthlin Road, Allerton.