AN UNUSUAL wildlife lagoon is being created in a bid to attract rare flora and fauna.

The sluice lagoon, one of the rarest wildlife habitats in Britain, is under construction at Greatham, near Seal Sands, Teesside, as part of project including English Nature, the Environment Agency and the Industry Nature Conservation Association (Inca) of Billingham.

Saline lagoons contain water which is not fresh but is less salty than seawater, meaning they are extremely rare in the wild, occurring only behind shingle bars or spits along the coast.

Mature saline lagoons develop a very specialist fauna and flora, including invertebrates which support the food chain. The lagoons have been designated a National Priority Habitat in the Government's UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

The one-hectare lagoon will be fed with seawater from a sluice constructed through the flood bank on the north side of Greetham Creek.

Links will then be made with several pond areas and, in total, about 4.6 hectares of saline habitat will be created.

Two islands are also being built to attract nesting terns and waders. The spoil heap resulting from the excavation will be seeded to create a grassland habitat for skylarks, redshanks and lapwings.

The lagoon, formed by the excavation of 13,000 cubic metres of mud and silt, has just been completed.

Civil engineer Ian Moorhouse is supervising the project.

The project is being paid for by English Nature, the Environment Agency and landfill tax funding. Additional site works are to be carried out by Huntsman North Tees, which operates a plant in the area.