A CONSERVATION group is working to preserve one of the UK's rarest types of grassland, on the verge of one of the North-East's main highways.

The MAGical Meadows Project, in part overseen by Durham Wildlife Trust, aims to restore and help magnesian limestone grassland to flourish.

Two-thirds of the UK's surviving 670 acres of the wildflower-rich grassland is found in the region, mainly in east Durham and across the county boundary into Tyne and Wear.

Project members have teamed up with the Highways Agency because work to widen the A1(M), between Bowburn and Carrville junctions, in County Durham, cuts through magnesian limestone rock.

The groundwork has exposed the rock and the agency has approached the project for advice on how to re-sow the road verges once the work is complete.

Magnesian limestone rock aids the growth of wildflower grassland, supporting 13 nationally rare plants and more than 80 rare insects, including the glow worm.

As there is no seed mix commercially available for this type of soil, project workers have collected seed from nearby Thrislington National Nature Reserve to plant on site later in the year.

Project co-ordinator Michelle Appleby said: "Roadside verges which expose the underlying magnesian limestone rock provide an ideal environment for the lime-loving plants.

"We hope that the project is a success, so we can replicate it in the future."

She said it is becoming increasingly recognised that roadside verges are an important refuge for plants and wildlife which are no longer found in the wider countryside.

Ms Appleby thanked quarrying company Lafarge Aggregates Ltd and English Nature for their help with the A1(M) verge scheme.