BIRDS and bugs are set to be able to call an iconic Whitchurch location home after work to create safe spaces for them.

Volunteers at St Alkmund’s Church, in Church Street, have been putting up nesting boxes on trees around the churchyard to encourage more bird species.

This, they say, is part of a plan to attract a wider range of wildlife in the church grounds, which are a valuable and well-visited green space close to the town centre.

A spokesperson for the project explained that the work is part of wanting to do the right thing but also comes from their faith.

They said: “We have a duty to look after not just the heritage of our church building but also the natural heritage of God’s creation and to help people to value and enjoy what nature offers.

The volunteers say the next stage will be to build a ‘Bug Mansion’ in a corner of the churchyard, to encourage a wide range of creepie crawlies, which are needed for a healthy ecology, and to refurbish the existing 'bug hotel' built a few years ago.

They added: “The project has been helped by a grant from Freedom Fibre, and with practical assistance from members of Men in Sheds and Whitchurch branch of Shropshire Wildlife Trust.”

The newly-installed box, for which it is hoped will attract a nesting owl, was put with help from volunteers Malcolm Monie, Paul Sears and Celia Churchill.