A GROUP working to improve an area of neglected woodland at Ulverston has been awarded a £940 grant by South Lakeland District Council (SLDC).

The Gill Banks Action Group is tackling the patch of woodland along a stream on the outskirts of the town, a very popular walk for the local community and the start of the Cumbria Way.

A 10-year management plan for the area includes removing large numbers of cherry laurels, rewilding areas with native planting and developing a wildflower meadow – an ambitious plan which is making significant improvements to the biodiversity, habitat development and numbers of pollinators in an area between the town and farm land.

Group chairman Peter Lowe said: "The award of a grant from SLDC is great news for the Gill Banks Action Group and its aims of rewilding the very popular but neglected Gill Banks area.

"The removal of damaging laurel and replacement with native trees and wild flowers has been hugely supported by locals and visitors alike.

"The work the group has already undertaken has greatly increased the levels of insects and birds seen in the rewilded areas but there is still much to be done."