A RARE breed of cattle has been brought in to help conserve a nature reserve.

Five Highland cattle belonging to hobby farmer Ken Ibbotson, from Murton, County Durham, are being allowed to graze - outside the flowering season - at the Crow Trees Local Nature Reserve, Quarrington Hill.

Durham County Council is trying to re-establish the site's magnesian limestone grassland and hopes the beasts' feeding habits will help flowers and wildlife.

The council's community wildlife officer, Ian Armstrong, said the cattle would graze until May, then return in October.

He said: "Grassland goes rank if it is not mown or grazed and eventually you lose many of the wild flowers.

"Mowing doesn't provide natural variations in the height of the grassland, and bare patches are minimal for flowers to seed, but cattle grazing is a more natural way of managing the grassland.

"The added bonus is that even the cow pats that will be littered around the field will aid wildlife by providing habitats for insects which birds, such as skylarks and yellow hammers can feed on."