SURVEY work has revealed that the great crested newt is facing a battle to survive in parts of the region.

A Durham Wildlife Trust survey team has been carrying out research into its status in an area from Darlington to Wearside over the past two years. It has concluded that the creature, sometimes known as the warty newt, has a scattered and patchy distribution, mainly across the east of the county.

Trust conservation manager Terry Coult, writing in the latest edition of the organisation's magazine Durham Wildlife, said that despite legal protection which means the amphibians cannot be disturbed, they are still in decline. He said reasons included the loss of breeding ponds, pollution, changes in farming practices, and stocking of waterways with fish.

The trust has embarked on a programme of conservation, including creating a database of the county's ponds. The initiative is backed by the British Herpetological Society, The Herpetological Conservation Trust, Durham County Council, Darlington Borough Council and North-umbrian Water.

Mr Coult said: "I wish I could say that the results of all of this work give cause for optimism, they don't.

"Despite the discovery of some new, previously unrecorded, locations for great crested newts, the general pattern is still one of slow loss, not so much these days of the ponds but of the amphibians."

The trust needs more volunteers to help with its work.

Mr Coult said: "The trust will continue to seek resources for great crested newt conservation work in Durham and I am still optimistic we can make a difference for this newt; the missing resource needed at the moment is the human one."

Anyone interested can contact him on 0191-584 3112.