A DEATHLY quiet corner of a North-East town is set to be designated a nature reserve.

The earmarked area not only happens to be a town's largest wooded area, it is also a cemetery.

Linthorpe Cemetery, in Middlesbrough, is home to a variety of wildlife ranging from squirrels to bullfinches and sparrowhawks.

It is one of four urban sites in and around Middlesbrough set to receive nature reserve status, with their future development funded by an English Nature Wildspace grant. Local people and schools are now being encouraged to become involved in their management.

Sue Antrobus, wildspace officer overseeing the scheme, said: "The local nature reserves will benefit people and wildlife, and there will be lots of opportunities for people of all ages to get involved with caring for these important sites.''

The other so-called "pocket nature reserves" are Stainton Quarry, Marton Westbeck and Berwick Hills Community Park.

Information displays on Stainton Quarry will be held at Stainton memorial hall on Saturday, at Hemlington library from March 4 to March 9, and Hemlington leisure centre from March 11 to 18.

Storyteller Pat Renton is working with pupils from St Alphonsus Primary School, writing about Berwick Hills Community Park; while Priory Wood School pupils taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme are taking part in outdoor conservation activities in some of the earmarked areas.