ENVIROMENTAL officers are attempting to preserve one of the region's most endangered species.

A conservation strategy to help safeguard the water vole is being created by Sunderland City Council's countryside team and the environmental services department.

Countryside officer Andrew Bewick said: "This beautiful animal is slowly disappearing from the country's river banks and the situation is no different in Sunderland with small isolated colonies in areas with poor habitat. The long-term survival of the species will only be possible through practical intervention and we have to act now."

The water vole population has been in steady decline for many years, with numbers falling most rapidly during the past 30 years..

A recent survey showed that most species have been lost from almost 90 per cent of the sites where water voles were found in the early 1900s.

Many remaining populations are so fragmented their survival is in serious doubt.

The proposed strategy to save the elusive water vole will include habitat creation, rat and weed control and closer links with land-owners.

The public are asked to report water vole sightings to Sunderland's countryside team on 0191-553 1555.