A RYEDALE town is running a campaign to encourage more nesting swifts to the area.

Nest boxes have been put up around Helmsley in an effort to encourage swifts to make a temporary home there ahead of the breeding season.

Boxes have been attached to businesses and homes across the town thanks to the Helmsley Swifts - a group which aims to educate people about swifts, ensuring that existing nest sites are retained.

Many nest sites have been lost over recent years as building’s roofs have been replaced.

Helmsley Swifts is working with Helmsley in Business to find homes for the nest boxes, and members of the business group even helped to fit them in place.

The main arrival of swifts into North Yorkshire is in early to mid-May, as they get ready to breed.

The boxes will allow breeding swifts to roost safely, laying one clutch of two to three eggs at the end of May or early June which they incubate for about 20 days.

Jonathan Pomroy, an artist who started Helmsley Swifts with Ian Kibble, said: “Swifts pair for life and are the most affectionate of birds in the nest boxes, constantly preening each other and snuggling up tight.”

The group is also applying for grants to buy more boxes and electronic swift calls to attract the birds to the new boxes.