South West Water celebrated World Bog Day yesterday after successful peatland restoration at Crowdy Marsh - where wildlife is now thriving.

United Utilities is bringing bogs back to life on its land and in the last five years has already improved over 3,000 hectares – or 4,200 football pitches – of peatland across the North West.

The Government has announced that the sale of peat for use in the amateur gardening sector will be banned by 2024 to protect peatlands and the natural environment.

Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive at the Environment Agency is warning of a ‘silent spring’ for wildlife if warnings are ignored and urging action ahead of the UN Convention of Biological Diversity in Canada in December 2022. A third of British pollinator species have declined with a fifth of UK plants threatened with extinction.