INDUSTRY bosses have piped new life into a drought-hit nature reserve.

Saudi chemical company Sabic is supplying water, via a 1,000- metre long pipeline, to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds' (RSPB) sanctuary in Saltholme, near Seal Sands.

The pipeline supplies water to the reserve's main lake and, through a sluice, to a network of ditches, reedbed and wet grassland.

It took 47,520 tonnes of water and several weeks to re-fill the wetland after it had dried out during one of the driest Aprils on record - and at the start of the bird breeding season.

"Some of the newly-created wetland habitats at the Saltholme site in the Tees Valley were looking more like a desert, rather than a haven for wildlife," said David Hirst, regional spokesman for the RSPB.

"Meadows designed to attract breeding birds were unseasonably dry, and a newly-created lake was more of a puddle. Wetland-loving birds, such as lapwing and snipe, were showing little signs of wanting to nest in the dry conditions."

Proof the pipe was working was confirmed by the display flights and renewed activity of birds after the pipe was switched on.

RSPB Saltholme site manager Dave Braithwaite said: "If this had not happened, then late April would have been the end of this breeding year.

"I can't say enough about it - it just makes all the difference.

"What the wet grassland is meant to do is create lots and lots of damp margins, with high densities of insects. This is absolutely critical for birds. If that does not happen in the first few critical days of nesting, the birds don't survive.

"We just managed to get this water on in time."

The water being donated by Sabic is a by-product of its brine production management operations.

Meanwhile, work starts on June 18 on the construction of the Wild Bird Discovery Centre, which will be at the heart of the site and is expected to attract 100,000 visitors every year when it opens next year.