A CAMPAIGN has been launched to protect endangered water vole from an invasion of mink.

Water vole are facing extinction in Britain and one of the reasons is attacks by the North American predator, which was introduced into Britain in the last century for fur farming.

Now there have been reports that mink are moving into countryside near Hartlepool, one of the vole's strongholds.

According to the Northumbrian Mammal Group, signs of mink have been found at Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park near the Seal Sands chemical complex, and neighbouring Greatham Creek.

Because many of the waterways in the area are linked, talks to prevent the spread of the predators have taken place between local council officials and conservation organisations.

They have come up with a strategy which includes the use of traps to catch mink in Hartlepool and Stockton, according to the mammal group's newsletter.

The newsletter also says water voles appear to be expanding their range in Darlington, having been reported on Cocker Beck in the west end of the town.

A survey in 1997 revealed no water voles on the beck, although they were detected on Baydale Beck, just over a mile away, and on the River Skerne.

* The newsletter also reported how Durham Bat Group recently carried out a count at a bat roost in Witton-le-Wear, County Durham. More than 400 bats made it the biggest recorded roost in the county.