SECTIONS of footpath and nature trail at a nature reserve are being closed for work on a habitat development scheme.

Some areas of Durham Wildlife Trust's centre at Low Barns, Witton-le-Wear, will be closed off on weekdays from next Wednesday for up to two months.

The trust's Wild Wetlands project has converted an abandoned sewage treatment works into a reedbed and meadow habitat.

Its latest project is to link the wetland to existing water habitats on the site. A further area of reedbed will be created which will have a boardwalk running through it giving visitors a close-up view of the area.

The project will also create a new habitat for a colony of the Dingy Skipper butterfly, whose numbers have sharply declined in recent years.