SHAGGY eco-warriers have chomped their way through a vegetarian menu to bring a riot of spring colour to a popular beauty spot.

The unwitting environmentalists are a flock of Suffolk- cross sheep recruited by the Forestry Commission to encourage flowers to grow by grazing on a site of special scientific interest.

Their open-air dining room has been Low Redford meadows in the heart of the 4,000-acre Hamsterley Forest, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

The meadow stretches over 25 acres and harbours 100 species of flowers, which lure insects and birds each spring.

Under a management plan agreed with English Nature, the sheep graze the site from August to January to keep the grass at an ideal length and destroy weeds, creating perfect conditions for the strengthening sun to germinate seeds.

Forester Mark Herbertson said: "It's the traditional way to manage such meadows.

"It all comes very naturally to the sheep, the farmer gets a secure place to graze his animals and the Forestry Commission can sit back and watch mother nature do her stuff in the spring.

"Suffolks have just the right dietary habits for the job."

In spring and early summer visitors to Hamsterley can expect to see a kaleidoscope of colour among the trees with adder's tongue fern, hay rattle and wood cranes bill all in bloom.

Once the flowering season is over in July, the grass is cut to allow the next year's seed bank to fall back into the soil. The hay is used to feed livestock during the winter.

Mr Herbertson said: "Hay meadows are an incredibly rich habitat for flowers. But over the centuries they have declined as agricultural practices have changed, making the Hamsterley site even more important."