HOPES are rising that the hen harrier - persecuted almost to extinction in the region - may be able to recolonise after the success of a project to rescue the bird.

This summer, English Nature launched a nationwide programme to save the species in England.

As part of the initiative, it worked closely with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to protect two hen harrier chicks hatched on the RSPB nature reserve at Geltsdale on the Durham and Northumberland border.

English Nature wardens Phil Curtis and John Olley, working with a RSPB team and several volunteers, mounted a round-the-clock guard to ensure the birds did not come to any harm.

Now it has been confirmed that the juveniles, having moved off Geltsdale at the end of the summer, have been spotted in County Durham.

One of English Nature's hopes was that a growing Geltsdale population could, in time, re-colonise Durham.

The harriers' problem is that, because they eat commercially- reared red grouse, they suffer persecution from landowners and gamekeepers, even though their national organisations condemn the practice.

Last year there were just three successful nests in England, all at Bowland, near Preston.

This year, England produced 21 juveniles from seven nests, including six chicks from a secret location in the Yorkshire Dales.

Mr Curtis, a former Darlington firefighter now working in conservation, said: "Recent data has revealed the true plight of the hen harrier as a breeding species in England, which was on the edge of extinction last year.

"The last harrier breeding attempt in Durham was in 1998, but if we can build on the successes achieved this year, and also bring about a change in attitude by some landowners then, who knows, it may not be too long before harriers are back."