Work under way on nature reserve

The nature reserve will be linked to attractions including Rhuddlan Castle

Volunteers are being invited to help turn a derelict piece of land into a nature reserve in a Denbighshire town.

Work is under way near Rhuddlan Castle after the project received £141,500 funding.

The nature reserve will sit on a site which had been ear-marked for a recycling centre, but which was withdrawn after local opposition.

People can take part in a number of projects at the site, including hedge-laying between 24-28 November.

Plans for a recycling centre were withdrawn in May 2008 after local opposition.

The Environment Agency had also asked Denbighshire council to design the site to cope with a "one in a thousand year" flood - which the council said was not cost-effective.

Funding for the nature reserve has also been provided by rural development agency Cadwyn Clwyd, the Countryside Council for Wales and a private landowner.

Denbighshire council said the goal of the project was to "transform the site's neglected appearance into an attractive gateway for tourists visiting Rhuddlan and to link the site with other tourist attractions".

Volunteers are invited to join in the various stages of the development.